TMNT 2
by SonChihan
Summary: This is a sequel to the 2007 CGI TMNT. What if there were other mutant turtles? What if they were girls? Read and find out what happens. Warning: contains original characters. Rated T for violence. I OWN NOTHING.
1. Chapter 1: Strangers in the Night

This is a sequel to TMNT (the CGI movie that came out in 2007). I knew they weren't going to make a sequel, so I made one myself. I own nothing. All characters belong to their respective owners.

_Four turtles…Four brothers…Genetically reborn in the sewers of New York…Named after the four great renaissance masters…And trained as ninjas…For seventeen years, they have lived in shadow, their existence known only to a select few outsiders…always convinced that there would never be any others like themselves…But now…the four young warriors are about to learn a truth…a truth that will test their minds, hearts, and wills to the very limits of their abilities…Because all this time…all these years…they have never truly been alone. _

Chapter 1

Strangers in the Night

In the still night, beneath a full moon shining down on New York City, four figures made their way across the many rooftops that made up the microchip-like blocks of the city. In a red-bricked apartment building, April O'Neil ruffled the pages of the Glamour magazine she was reading, and adjusted her seat on the sofa in front of the widescreen TV that sat adjacent to the staircase of her apartment. Her boyfriend, Casey Jones, was on the other side of the couch, staring wide-eyed at the TV; his favorite hockey team was playing against their cross-country rivals, and he was really getting into it. April didn't have much of a taste for hockey, so she looked out her open window. As fate would have it, April saw the four mysterious shadowy figures flipping and jumping over the rooftops. This sight did not surprise her, since she was a close friend to New York's anonymous crime fighters. But what she didn't know was that these figures weren't her friends. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael) were all in their underground lair, getting ready to go out for one of their late-night outings.

These figures, currently jumping between, around, and over the rooftops, were not from the area. They weren't from New York City. They weren't even from the state of New York. They were, in fact, from Montana. They had sleek muscles that rippled beneath their supple limbs; they had stamina equal to those in elite units of our armed forces; and they could disable a considerable amount of fortified opponents without being seen. Sound familiar? Their weapons gleamed in the moonlight, and their shells reflected star shine. Yes, these were mutated turtles, just like Leo, Mikey, Don, and Raph. But there was just one, small difference. These turtles were girls.

As the female turtles made their way across the tops of the many story buildings lining the crowded streets that wound through the center workings of the city, they past mazes of brick chimney heads, triangular skylights, iron heating vents, and long wire clothes-lines draped with laundry set out to dry. The rough calluses on their feet, borne from years of leaping through the high canopies of many native forests, scraped noiselessly against the weather beaten concrete that paved the flat residential buildings of New York. Traveling like this certainly took some getting used to, seeing as the wide expanse of manmade housing tops provided numerous landing options for the ninja acrobatics that the four of them used for getting around, unlike the close-growing forests that lined the countryside of their home state: in the trees, you have very limited options for a landing spot, whereas here, you could either land on the flat edge of the roof, or one of the many platforms that dot the edges of the roofs, or perhaps on top of one of the many roof-entrance doorways, the list was endless. However, this style of traveling also took extra work, for every building was constructed at a different height; one moment the four of them would be sprinting flat out across a flat roof, dodging fans and ladders, and the next, they'd be sliding down a slanted glass ceiling, or else scaling a gutter pipe up the side of an apartment building. It went way beyond the usual routine of springing and swinging from branch to branch or bough to bough like a group of gibbons.

Fate had its way again, as the girl turtles stopped for a rest on the one rooftop that was to be the guys' location of choice that evening. They chose to stop at this one because the evening they had planned was going to be intense; this roof had a tall water tower that provided a supply of cool, fresh water whenever they needed it, and it was sheltered on all sides from the curious eyes of New York citizens by means of a 5 foot tall concrete wall that lined the edges of the roof. The youngest of the four girls was tired from their hurried flight from the New York City airport, but she didn't feel like sitting down; instead, she hung by her legs on the water tower's ladder. The other three sat on the edges of the roof's wall, wondering what to do next.

"That was the worst plane ride I've ever been on!" said one of the four. She was the brainiest of the group. Her voice was very soft, but the annoyance was still obvious. "Completely inadequate."

"That was the _only_ plane ride we've ever been on, Smart One," said another in a bored, tomboyish voice. "Not to mention the fact that we rode in the cargo hold. What did you expect, first class?"

"At least I didn't snore so loudly that it echoed around the whole hold!" retorted the first girl, her normally gentle voice hardening with annoyance.

"Knock it off, both of you!" snapped the oldest of the four, whose voice was much too jaded and experienced for someone of her age. Her two quarreling sisters fell into a resigned silence. She got up and started to pace.

"So what are we going to do now that we're here?" asked the youngest, in a voice that suggested a happy-go-lucky attitude and the attention span of a sixth grader.

"I don't know," said the oldest, not looking up. Frankly, she didn't have a clue what to do. Even though she was not the official leader, (the team had no leader), she was the one who usually led decision-making. But _she_ wasn't the one who had decided to drag them all the way to New York. Her younger sister, the one who snored, had made that decision. She had been frantic to leave, but had never explained why.

"Isn't that uncomfortable?" asked the brainy sister, staring confusedly at her inverted younger sister.

"Nah," replied the youngest, swinging back and forth and letting her eyes slide shut. "Even though all the blood is rushing to my head, this feels nice." Her sister sighed. "Why did we come here anyway?" she asked, turning to her other sister, who was now lying on her back.

"I told you," she replied, turning over on her side, "Unforeseen complications arose, complications that could not be dealt with."

"And what might those complications be?" asked the oldest.

"Not something you should concern yourself with."

"Well I think," but before she could finish, her sister held up a hand to silence her.

"Listen!" she said. The turtles fell silent, then, in unison, turned their heads to the right. They could hear voices. Behind them, four figures almost identical to them in shape were skillfully maneuvering up, down and across a row of buildings just as they had been moments before, heading straight for their current rooftop.

"Oh no…" whispered the oldest.

Leo, Mikey, Don, and Raph were making their way swiftly towards the roof with the water tower on it and the wall around it. "What do you think we should do tonight, guys?" asked Leo. "I planned on having us run through a few rounds of Survival."

"But, I wanted to go check out that new sporting goods store over on Broadway," whined Mikey.

"Why? Are you planning on walkin' in and buying a new skateboard?" asked Raph, his rough Brooklyn accent edged with both amusement and sarcasm.

"Well, no… Not _buying_ one," said Mikey innocently. "I just wanted to look at one. You know they got this new board design and it really…"

"Hold up," said Leo, halting the four of them on the edge of a slanted skylight. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's that over there?" he asked, pointing over to next building in the row. The others peered over, studying the spot he was indicating.

Leo had spotted four figures standing together next to the water tower, and, judging by the way their heads were turned, they were staring right at him and his brothers.

"Who the heck are they?" asked Raph, both suspiciously and aggressively. Leo shook his head.

"Well, they don't look like any of our enemies," said Don anxiously, "So that's a good sign."

"I don't know," said Mikey, "They look kinda shifty to me."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," said Leo. He signaled for his brothers to follow him, then slid down the last few feet of the skylight, leapt across the space between the two buildings and landed, catlike, on a platform on the edge of the roof. The other three followed his lead, landing equally catlike beside him. The four strangers backed away, their faces hidden in shadow. "Hey," called Leo, "What are you doing up here?" Without answering, the strangers turned and ran, jumping off of the roof edge.

"Hey!" the boys called simultaneously, running over to the other side of the roof.

"Come on!" said Leo. The turtles took off after the strangers, matching their movements so they could keep after them without having to worry about watching for obstacles. The strangers were keeping to the shadows, so Leo couldn't get a good look at them. _Whoever they are,_ he thought, _they might be in for a fight. _

_Perfect, just great!_ the sisters thought as they fled from their pursuers. They were doing their best to keep to the shadows, so that these newcomers couldn't see them. The girls had already seen, and were a bit dismayed to find, that these new guys were just like them; mutated turtles, most likely around their age group, and, as far as they could tell, were trained in the art of ninjitsu, another attribute the girl turtles possessed as well. They knew these things because they had heard numerous stories about the four turtles. But they wanted to limit any contact - if not avoid it all together - while in the NY, which is why they now ran.

"Over here!" the eldest hissed. The girls dove into a large alleyway, devoid of any life, except for one very startled stray cat, who scrambled under a dumpster at the sight of the four giant turtles dropping in from above. The alleyway was lined with garbage cans and dumpsters, old bikes and discarded furniture, and the cobbled floor sloped down to a drainage grill in the middle of the alley. Black spidery fire escape stairs clung to the walls of the apartment buildings on either side.

"Drat!" the youngest exclaimed, "It's a dead end!" Looming in front of them was the back wall of a warehouse: they were trapped.

"No! Really?" retorted the brainy sister.

"Too late…" said the oldest. They could hear the turtles getting closer to where they were hiding. They turned to face their pursuers.

"They're down there!" said Don. The boys landed in the alleyway where the strangers were hiding. The light was too dim from where they were standing, so the only things the turtles could see were the silhouettes of the strangers, which were very oddly shaped; almost familiarly so.

"Hey you!" called Leo, taking a step forward.

"What?!" one of the strangers shouted. Leo took a step back in alarm. That voice was female. "What do you want?" the stranger asked, extremely aggressively.

"Yeah! Why'd you chase us?" asked another one, equally aggressive and also female.

"Wh…Who are you?" Leo asked cautiously.

"Here, take a good look!" said the first girl. The four of them stepped into the light of a nearby lamp. The boys gasped. Standing in front of them, arms either crossed or on their hips, were four giant, mutated turtles, just like them! Only, there were a few, slight differences. These turtles were a little shorter, lithe, and more slender. They all were wearing the same kind of elbow pads, kneepads, wristbands, and belts that the boys were wearing. They each had a pair of weapons tucked under their belts (except for one, who instead had what looked like a staff behind her shell, held down by a shoulder strap similar to Leo's). Lastly, they were all wearing masks just like the ones the boys were wearing, only theirs were different colors. The girl that had spoken first was wearing a black mask, the one that had spoken second wore a yellow mask (she looked like she was the youngest), the one with the staff was wearing a silver mask (she looked like the oldest), and the fourth one had a green mask, which was a different color than her skin.

"You're… You're," stammered Don, struck dumb by this sudden discovery. "We're what? Turtles?" asked the girl with the silver mask.

"Well, yeah!" Don replied.

"But you're girls!" exclaimed Mikey, who was obviously loving the whole situation.

"Gee, thanks for pointing out the obvious!" retorted the turtle with the green mask.

" Did you actually think that you were the only mutated turtles around?" asked the girl with the yellow mask.

"There's more than one science lab that likes to dump radioactive waste in places where baby turtles can step in it," said the turtle with the black mask. "Trust me."

The boys blinked. Now they were really confused.

"So… where do you girls come from?" asked Don, trying to sound casual.

"Montana!" said the youngest turtle loudly. The one with the green mask punched her in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Zip it!" her sister hissed, casting a wary glance at the boys.

"Well… What are your names?" asked Leo.

"Curious turtles aren't you?" snapped the girl who had punched her sister.

"Oh, hush," said the turtle with the black mask. She turned to the one with the silver mask, who nodded. "Fine," she said, turning back to facing the boys. "But pay attention boys because we don't like to repeat ourselves ." She jabbed a thumb at her chest. "I'm Freida."

The turtle with the green mask stepped forward.

"My name's Cleopatra."

The yellow masked girl waved a hand.

"I'm Elizabeth."

Then the silver masked turtle put a hand on her chest.

"And I am Joan."

"Okay," said Leo, inclining his head to them. He briefly noted that they were getting agitated, putting their hands on their weapons. "I'm Leonardo. These are my brothers: Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael," he said, gesturing to each of them in turn.

"Yeah, we've heard of you," said Cleopatra, fingering the hilt of one of her weapons.

"Why are they doing that?" asked Mikey his hand creeping towards one of his nunchucks.

"It's because they view us as enemies," said Raph, also putting a hand on the hilt of one of his sai daggers.

"Too right, buddy," said Freida, her shoulders squared and her legs tensed.

"Hey now, we're not looking for a fight," said Leo, putting his hands up.

"Besides, we wouldn't want to beat up a bunch of girls," added Mikey, without thinking. Don hastily stepped on his foot.

The four girls let out a unified gasp of outrage.

"Oh no he didn't!" exclaimed Cleopatra.

"Oh yes he did!" snarled Elizabeth, glaring at Mikey.

"Nice going, Pinhead!" said Raph, slapping his younger brother upside the head.

"You want a piece of us, Nunchuck Boy?" asked Freida furiously, her three-fingered hands balled into fists, and a dangerous look on her face. Leo, partly out of habit, stepped protectively in front of Mikey. Mikey opened his mouth to retort, but Don gently put a hand over it. Mikey pushed Don's hand away, then stepped out from behind Leo, a smirk hitched on his face. He whipped out a pair of his nunchucks and began twirling them.

"Mikey _NO_," Leo ordered, glancing nervously at the girls.

"Ooooooh, you wanna go?" challenged Elizabeth, taking a half step forward, a kind of fierce defiance in her eyes.

"Come get some," Mikey challenged back. " I'd love to see how easy it would be to beat a _girl_." He put emphasis on the last word. Don groaned. Now Mikey was actually _trying_ to tick them off.

"Oh, that's it!" said Freida. The girls then drew their weapons. Joan's staff turned out to be a spear with a slightly curved head. Cleopatra drew a pair of needle-sharp sabers, and Elizabeth took out a pair of metal sickles. Freida's weapons, however, remained tucked under her belt.

"Why aren't you taking out your weapons?" asked Don, sounding a little hopeful.

"I prefer to work with my hands," replied Freida. She stepped into a fighting stance. "My weapons are metal fans, in case you were wondering."

"Leo…" whispered Raph, glancing nervously at his brother. Leo thought for a moment. Then he reached behind his head and drew his two katana swords. The others followed his lead. Don took up his bo staff, Mikey whipped out his other pair of nunchucks, and Raph drew his two sai daggers. The four of them stepped into their fighting stances. The girls laughed mirthlessly; fighting was one of their favorite pastimes.

"Okay boys, let's dance!" invited Joan, and the girl turtles ran forward.

Raph and Freida squared off. They circled each other, their eyes narrowed as each sized the other up. Quick as lightning, Raph aimed a strike at the side of her head with the side of his right sai. Freida blocked it with her left forearm. Raph tried another strike with his other sai, but Freida blocked that too. They struggled there for a moment, each trying to overpower the other. Then suddenly, Freida jumped two feet off the ground and front- snap kicked Raph right in the jaw, sending him backward. He landed flat on his back. He choked as the wind was knocked out of him. Gasping, Raph sat up, rubbing his jaw. He glared up at Freida, who was standing a couple feet in front of him, unabashed.

"All right," he said, standing up and seething with anger. "If that's the way you want it, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Bring it!" challenged Freida. Raph let out a snarl, then flipped his sai daggers over, so that the blades faced down. He threw a couple of downward slashes at Freida, who dodged them. He jumped up and spun in mid-air, aiming a strike with the heel of his left foot. Freida caught his ankle and threw him onto the ground. Raph quickly rolled onto his side and slammed his right foot into Freida's knees, which folded and buckled, making Freida fall with a heavy _thud_ a little to Raph's right. Raph flipped himself over, so that he was standing on his hands. Then, with a loud grunt, he brought the heels of both feet down, hard, on Freida's solar plexus. Raph tasted triumph as he heard her gasp out as the wind was knocked out her. But the feeling was short-lived, for at that moment, Freida grabbed his ankle and twisted it. Crying out in pain, Raph rolled over backwards and jumped to his feet. Freida did the same, and they continued their fight.

Leo and Joan were having it at each other as well. Leo stabbed with his left hand sword and slashed with his right, but Joan block the attacks with her spear. Leo changed tactics and stabbed with his right and slashed with his left, but she blocked them too. Trying to fight someone with a spear longer than his two swords was a difficult matter. A lot of the blows she sent he could dodge, but they hit their mark more often than his did. Joan did not try to stab him, but she hit him with the flat of head and the shaft of the spear. Leo quickly spun his swords sideways and slashed diagonally at Joan's shoulders. Joan flipped her spear around like a windmill, knocking the swords out of the way. She aimed a jab with the end of the shaft, which Leo blocked. Joan then executed a side-flip over his head, wrenching her spear upward at the same time. When she landed, Joan's spear shaft was up under Leo's jaw, while her elbows pinned his arms to his sides.

"You're good," murmured Leo.

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself," replied Joan.

Leo jabbed her in the sides with the hilts of his swords. She jumped back, releasing him.

"Please, we're not your enemies!" Leo pleaded, "We don't really want to fight you! Maybe we can talk about this?"

"Sorry," said Joan, "can't take any chances."

Don and Cleopatra were clashing left, right, and center. They were driving each other all the way around the alley, leaping over garbage cans and throwing each other into walls and onto the ground. Don could block a good amount of Cleopatra's blows, and she could block many of his. The sound of her sabers and his bo staff clashing together rang throughout the alley. They both had a sense of strategy, and they both were able to disable each other's attack plans. Don tossed his staff up in the air and caught the end of it with both hands, then swung it around like a baseball bat. Cleopatra brought her sabers around and stuck them into the side of the staff. Don jerked it back, bringing it close to his chest. He flinched a bit when he saw the deep notches that the sabers had left in the light brown wood. Cleopatra bent her knees and kicked out sideways at Don's shins. He deflected the kick with his bo. But then she spun around and tripped him with her other foot. She tried to hit him with the flat of her sabers, but Don brought his staff up and their weapons locked together, with Cleopatra's hands pinned on either side of the staff. She jerked one of her sabers up, so that the blade was at his throat.

"You wouldn't," hissed Don.

"You're right. I wouldn't _dare_," said Cleopatra sarcastically, pressing the blade closer to his windpipe.

"Fine," said Don. He twisted his bo staff so that Cleopatra's hands were freed. Don stood up again, ready for more.

Mikey and Elizabeth actually found their own battle quite amusing. They were perfectly matched, skill wise. The only problem was that they seemed to think the same way as well. Whenever one thought of throwing a punch, the other would be thinking the same thing, and they'd just end up punching each other in the face. But the one thing that really ticked Mikey off was that Elizabeth seemed to be just playing with him. He jabbed at her with his right fist, then followed through with a hook from his left fist. Elizabeth just stepped out of the way, pushing Mikey on the shoulder to propel him forward. Then she grabbed the knot of his orange mask at the back of his head and yanked him backward. The pressure from Elizabeth's fingers and thumb wedged between his mask and his head forced Mikey's eyes shut. Blind, Mikey felt himself being swung around in circles. Then Elizabeth released his mask, and Mikey was flung across the alley, where he landed, with a muffled crash, on top of a garbage bag. Mikey jumped up, coughing and retching at the horrendous stench.

"Ew! Gross!" he cried. He turned to find Elizabeth laughing her head off at him. Mikey whipped his nunchucks around, aiming for Elizabeth's shoulder. She held both of her sickles in one hand, hooked them around the nunchuck-chains, and jumped into a double front-flip while pushing off of Mikey's shoulder. This resulted in Mikey's nunchucks being tied in a knot when he turned to raise them again. Elizabeth guffawed.

"What's the matter?" she asked tauntingly, "Am I too fast for you?"

"I'll show you fast!" said Mikey as he untied his nunchucks. When he had freed the chains from their embarrassing knot, he ran at Elizabeth.

Raph and Freida were now fighting up on a fire escape platform. He now had her pinned against the railing, keeping one hand wrapped tightly around her wrist, so only one hand was free. He was having one heck of a time keeping her pinned and trying to block her punches at the same time.

"Let go of me you creep!" Freida delivered a couple of wicked low-kicks to both of Raph's shins. He winced angrily.

"Calm down!" he snarled, "I'm not trying to be your enemy!"

"Yeah?" hissed Freida, struggling even harder, "Well you've got a funny way of showing it!"

"Maybe it wouldn't be so hard if you just…sit…still!"

"Ha!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Freida felt a horrible pulse of pain radiate through her body, as if she had been stabbed with a lightning rod. It caused her to spasm. Startled, Raph let go of her wrist. Pain wracked every part of her body. Confused and desperate, Freida delivered a hard kick to Raph's chest, knocking him backward into the railing, then over the side. Luckily, he was able to hang on. Don, who had been knocked into a wall below, looked up to see his brother dangling.

"Let go, Raph!" he called, dropping his bo staff and holding his arms out. Raph let go of the rail. Don caught him, but the force of the fall knocked both of them flat on their backs.

Freida, meanwhile, was still on the platform, clutching her chest, her lungs heaving. She was terribly frightened at that moment. The pulse she had just experienced had made it feel like she was being shocked by an exposed telephone wire.

_It's happening again,_ she thought. She looked up at the sky. It was getting very late. Freida knew that they couldn't continue fighting. That pulse had sapped her energy, so she would be of no use to her sisters. She whistled loudly to them.

"Let's clear out!" she shouted to them.

Cleopatra, Elizabeth, and Joan all jumped away from their opponents. They reached into their belts, and threw down some smoke pellets. Freida did as well. The boys, caught off guard, started to choke and cough. When the smoke finally cleared, the girl turtles were gone.

"What was that all about?" asked Don, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. Raph, dazed from the fall, struggled to his feet.

"They obviously got bored with us," he growled, coughing and rubbing his chest.

"I can't believe we just got our butts kicked by a bunch of girls!" said Mikey, untying his nunchuck chains again.

"Don't be so thick Mikey," said Leo, grimacing as he rotated his left shoulder, "Those turtles were good, very, very good."

"By the looks of it, they've probably been studying ninjitsu as long as we have," added Donny, "They looked to be about the same age as us."

"So, what do we do?" asked Mikey.

"We do nothing," said Leo firmly. "The best thing we can hope for is that they won't plan on making us enemies and move on." Raph opened his mouth to argue, but restrained himself and nodded.

"We should get back," said Leo. They all nodded and headed for the nearest manhole.


	2. Chapter 2: Friends and their Enemies

Chapter 2

Friends and their Enemies

The next morning, the turtles woke up feeling more sore than they had in a long time. Their mentor, Splinter (a talking rat with careful posture and the robes and bearings of an elder in society), paused in the middle of pouring himself some tea. The boys were moaning a lot more than usual.

"Good morning, my sons," he greeted them cheerfully. The usual group greeting of "Good morning, Sensei," was definitely lacking in enthusiasm.

"Rough night boys?" asked Splinter, turning around. He raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. The turtles were all sporting small injuries. Leo had white gauss wrapped around both upper arms, Mikey had a black eye that not even his mask could hide, Don had the back of his head bandaged, and both of Raph's shins were heavily bandaged. Plus, all four of them were covered in numerous bruises (the whole left side of Raph's jaw was purple).

"We ran into some…uh, very skilled ninjas last night," said Don, wincing as he sat down at the kitchen table. The other three sat down too, obviously just as uncomfortably.

"We ran into four …a…. other turtles," Leo clarified, "Just like us, only female."

"Yeah," said Raph, pouring himself a bowl of cereal, "and they were good. They fought real hard, in kind of the same style we use."

"How fascinating. Who would have known that there were others like us? Where are they from?"

"Montana," answered Mikey. "You know that one with the yellow mask? I actually though she was a total babe." Don gagged on his orange juice.

"What?!" he spluttered, staring dumbfounded at his younger brother.

"Yeah, well they're girl teenage mutant ninja turtles. What's not attractive about that?"

"Last night you were complaining about being beat by girls! Now you're saying that they were attractive?"

"Hey, I'm a teenager."

"It doesn't matter," said Leo abruptly, "We probably won't see them again."

But Leo couldn't have been more wrong. In the super structure of the lair, the four girl turtles perched, concealed by shadows. They had actually followed the boys home the previous night, keeping in mind that they needed a place to stay. They highly doubted the boys would be all that welcoming after the previous night's fight. But, it was worth a try.

They felt a little twinge of awe as they surveyed the underground chambers that the ninja turtles called home. The lair was located under an old subway station. It's door was a section of wall, that, when a lever disguised as a pipe was pulled, slid open to reveal the first level of their living quarters. The first floor was simply a walkway that led to a hallway off to the side, where the turtles had their bedrooms. A large square stairway led down from the first level to the main living area. This section of the lair had a high domed ceiling made of red brick, with long black wires hanging dejectedly from the curving iron arches to which the girl turtles now clung, unseen. Directly in front of the stairway were two arcade games with which the turtles amused themselves when they were bored. To the right of the arcade games was a large wooden skateboard ramp, built especially for Mikey, so that he could practice. To the left arcade games rose a great concrete dais on which sat two comfy leather armchairs and one four-seat leather couch. In front of the lounging furniture, a great plasma screen TV and three smaller TVs were perched on a large black shelved table. Behind the dais, the kitchen/dining room was snuggled in a large niche built into the wall. The turtles and Splinter now sat at the small wood table that sat on the threshold between the kitchen and the living room. Directly to the right of the kitchen, huddled in a corner of the space, was Don's domain: the computer area. Wall to wall technology spread like a spiders web from one end of the corner to the other: computers, video cameras, random inventions, pencils, calculators, headsets, microphones, and compact discs littered the little counter on which everything was piled; wires connected one thing to another, crawling up the wall like mechanical creepers; and in the center of all this mind-boggling technology, was a special revolving chair, fitted just for Don's shelled frame, complete with a keyboard bolted to a little revolving shelf attached to the left arm of the chair.

Directly to the left of the stairway an arched doorway opened up into a smaller domed room. This room was the weight room, where the walls were lined with workout equipment: exercise machines, dumbbells piled on top of layered holders, spare weapons, sandbags, punching bags, sparring dummies, medicine balls, jump ropes, pull-up bars, and rubber bands (the big kind, not the office product). To the right of the weight room, a large square set of double doors led to Splinter's room. The lair wasn't, by any means, tidy. Mikey's skateboards and basketballs were a constant hazard to anyone who chanced a walk across the living area; old news papers, magazines, chip bags, coke cans, candy wrappers, degraded CD cases, and numerous video game contaners littered the carpet by TV space; wrinkled paper full of calculations, heavy books, manuels, dismantled remotes, magnifying glasses, tweezers, laser pointers, and empty water bottles dominated the computer area. The whole living area was lit by large incandescent lamps hanging from the high domed ceiling. But the thing that drew the girls' attention the most was Splinter himself. They had just gotten over the shock of actually meeting the only other mutant turtles in the the world, but seeing a giant rat, wearing a long red robe, leaning on a tall staff, and speaking with a very light Asian accent was just too much for the four of them.

"Stop giggling!" hissed Freida. Elizabeth put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. She had broken into a fit of giggles when she heard Mikey say that he thought she was a babe and found her attractive.

"Let's hope these guys are feeling generous today," said Cleopatra.

"If they aren't, we can't rule out groveling," said Frieda.

"Okay," whispered Joan, "Let's move." The girls jumped down from the rafters, onto the floor behind the table. The boys and Splinter jumped up in surprise.

"Hi. Hope you guys, don't mind us dropping in," said Freida.

"What are you doing here?" asked Leo in alarm, "How'd you find were we live?"

"We followed you here," said Joan, winking.

"What do you want?" Leo demanded.

"Look, we're really very sorry about last night. We were scared, and we didn't want anyone to find out about us. We panicked."

"Tell it to the injuries," snapped Raph. He tilted his head to one side so that Freida could see his purple jaw line. She winced, casting her eyes downward.

"Sorry about that," she murmured.

"Sorry don't cut it."

"Calm down Raph," said Leo, "They followed us so that they could apologize, give them a chance." Raph turned away, his expression tense.

"Actually," continued Joan, " the main reason we followed you here was because we need a place to stay, and we were hoping, maybe…"

"Are you kidding?" interjected Raph, glaring at the girls. "After what you pulled last night? No way!"

"Raphael!" Splinter thumped Raph on the shell with his staff. "Enough. There's no need to be hostile." Raph folded his arms across his chest and said no more.

"Why did you come all the way to New York anyway?" asked Don.

"We don't know," said Cleopatra. "Frieda won't tell us why she made us all come here."

"Are you the leader?" Leo asked Frieda.

"Oh no, we don't have a leader."

The boys were a little taken aback. No leader?

"We work as a single unit," said Joan.

"Yeah," Elizabeth chimed in, "Our teacher, Master Lin, told us that we aren't ready to be lead."

"She says that leadership is a responsibility that we just aren't ready for," said Freida.

"Well, who makes the decisions for the team?" asked Don.

"Joan usually does, seeing as she's the oldest," answered Cleopatra.

"But I wasn't the one who decided to drag us halfway across the country," said Joan, "Freida did."

"We came," said Freida, her voice impatient, "because of unforeseen complications back home."

"Which we don't know because you won't tell us what they are!" said Elizabeth

"You don't need to know!"

"Oh, I think we do!" said Joan, turning towards her sister. Freida turned to respond, and suddenly the four of them were arguing.

"Jeez, they're worse than we are!" said Mikey, sniggering at the brawl that was taking place.

"Are we actually going to let them stay here?" asked Raph. Leo shrugged.

"What do you think we should do, Sensei?" he asked, looking over at Splinter. The old rat didn't answer right away. He scratched his chin thoughtfully, regarding the squabbling sisters with a curious expression.

"I think that, considering that they have no place to go, we should give them a chance," he said at last. "They might prove to be valuable allies."

"But first we have to get them to stop arguing," said Don. Of course he was right. The girls had started shouting now.

"I got it." Mikey nonchalantly sauntered over to the group, put his thumb and first finger in between his teeth, and let out one long, loud, high pitched whistle. The girls jumped, and then fell silent.

"You girls can stay for a while," said Leo.

"Really?" asked Joan.

"Yes, as long as you need to."

"Oh thank you, thank you very much, Leonardo." The four girls bowed deeply.

"You're welcome. And you can call me Leo."

"And you can call me Mikey!"

"Call me Don."

Raph didn't say anything. He simply huffed and walked away, climbing the stairs to the upper level. The others heard him mumbling angrily to himself as he disappeared down the passageway that led to the bedrooms.

"What about him?" asked Freida.

"I suggest you not talk to him," said Leo grimly, "Unless of course he talks to you first."

"So what about you guys?" asked Mikey. "You got nicknames?"

"You can call me Cleo," replied Cleopatra.

"And me Lizzie!" added Elizabeth.

Just then, a call came down from the lair entranceway that made the girls gasp and whip their heads around in the direction of the stairs.

"'Morning boys! We've got the weekly ration of groceries for you!" It was April's voice; she and Casey had dropped by unexpectedly. The girls glanced at each other, then at the boys.

"Uh, yeah," said Leo, a little embarrassedly, "We have these two friends who…" but before he could finish his sentence, the four girls had disappeared once again. The boys blinked, surprised.

"Where'd they go?" asked Mikey.

"Where did who go?" April and Casey had reached the bottom of the stairs, bags of groceries in their arms. Casey's dark eyes widened as he beheld the boys' abundant injuries.

"Whoa-ho!" he exclaimed, "What happened to you?"

"Did you guys get in a fight last night?" asked April, concerned.

"You could say that," said Leo. He and Don took some bags and carried them over to the kitchen counter.

"Where's Raph?" asked Casey, taking a seat at the dining table.

"He needed to sleep in a bit," Mikey fibbed, sitting down across from him. "He really took a beating last night."

"Who attacked you?" asked April.

"Just some…newcomers," said Don delicately.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah…" but Don didn't go on. He's just spotted one of the girls hiding underneath the stairs. He was pretty sure it was Cleo. He scanned the room, and spotted the rest of the girls, all expertly concealed in places that you wouldn't be able to spot unless you really looked. Joan was hidden behind the plasma TV, Freida had perched herself on a ledge between the back of the skateboard ramp and the upstairs walkway, and Lizzie was crouched underneath the shelve running around Don's computer area.

At first, the girls had been afraid, and suspicious, of April and Casey's arrival, but as they watched the boys interact with them, their fear and suspicion turned into curiosity. All four of them peered, intrigued, at the two humans. It was not as if they had never seen humans before (far from it), it was just that every human they had ever seen was either a masked criminal or their foster mother; these two were just a couple of regular New York citizens, apart from the fact that they were friends with four mutated turtles and one talking rat. Lizzie, whose curiosity was often the hardest to satisfy, slipped out from her hiding place and crept on all fours, silent as a hunting fox, up behind Casey's chair. April, who had turned around to help Leo unload the groceries, didn't see her. Don and Mikey cocked their heads sideways, looks of apprehension and amusement on their faces, as they watched the girl turtle examine the back of Casey's head. The closer Lizzie looked at the color of the his hair, the more entertained she seemed to get. Casey, completely oblivious to her presence, got up out of his chair and stretched, causing Lizzie's captivation to grow.

"You guys know if the hockey game's on tonight?" asked Casey. Mikey and Don tried to answer, but the words just came out as,

"Uh…ah…um…"

"Hey, you guy's okay?" Casey stared at the two of them, his left eyebrow cocked. Don and Mikey continued to stutter. Casey shook his head.

"Honestly," he said, beginning to turn around, "you guys must have hit your heads pretty hard." He turned the rest of the way around, so that he was face-to-face with Lizzie (well, as face-to-face as he could get, considering she was a good two-and-a-half feet shorter than he was).

Casey yelped like a puppy whose tail had been stepped on. Lizzie let out a squeal of surprise and excitement.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, "I didn't think a guy could make that kind of noise!" Casey's yelp made April whirl around from her place at the kitchen counter. When she saw Lizzie, she screamed and pointed frantically.

"Who is that?" she shrieked. Lizzie's eyes flitted over to April. Her mouth fell open.

"Your hair is red!" she gasped, mimicking April and pointing, "Hey Cleo! Are humans supposed to have red hair?"

"Some do," came Cleo's gentle voice. She cautiously stepped out from her hiding place beneath the stairs. She too was eyeing the two humans with interest. "I think red hair is a recessive trait; both of her parents would have to have it."

"And check out this guy's hair!" said Lizzie, gesturing at Casey with her thumb. "Blue-black! Now that's cool!"

"Easily impressed as always, Liz." Freida was climbing down from her perch behind the skateboard ramp. She took measured steps toward Casey, eyes narrowed. He backed up a few paces, but she followed him, still staring at him from the corner of her left eye. She got within a foot and a half of him, sniffed, then recoiled, huffing.

"Phew!" she said, coughing slightly, "Dude! I know cologne is supposed to be alluring, but jeez! You smell like a mule deer during the rut!"

"You know you could be a little more tactful, Freida." Joan had finally emerged from behind the TV. April walked over to stand next to Casey. The two of them turned to the boys, silently asking an explanation.

"Guys," said Leo, smiling nervously, "meet our new roommates."

"Roommates?" repeated April.

"Yep. This is Joan, Freida, Cleopatra, and Elizabeth."

"Greetings and salutations," said Joan, holding out her hand to the stunned humans. Cautiously, April took her hand, and shook it.

"I can't believe it," she said quietly. "I never thought there would be others like the boys."

"Me neither," said Casey, staring amazedly at Lizzie just as she was at him. "And they're girls too. Man, you guys really lucked out!"

"Casey!"

"What?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Freida, advancing toward him. Joan quickly grabbed her sister's shoulders and pulled her back.

"Easy," she said, "he didn't mean anything. It probably just slipped out."

"Anyway," said Leo, stepping between his old friend and his new one. "The girls are going to be staying with us for a while, and it'd be nice if we could all just get along."

"And if we could keep our existence a secret," said Cleo pointedly.

"Oh, don't worry," said April, "We've kept the guys' secret for a long time. You girls have nothing to worry about."

"Excellent."

April looked down at her watch and gasped.

"Oh! Casey! We better get going, or we'll be late for work.."

"Right, let's hit it!" said Casey. The two of them quickly headed towards the stairs.

"It was nice meeting you girls!" called April.

"You too!" the girls called back.

As two days passed, it became apparent that the girl turtles had a lot more in common with the boys than what first met the eye. Cleo, as a matter of fact, shared Don's interest in technology, and his intelligence level. That first day in the lair, the two of them became engrossed in a conversation about an invention that Cleo had been close to completing before the girls had left home.

"I was just so close!" said Cleo, frustrated

"Explain was it was again," Don encouraged, absolutely fascinated.

"Instant-Override-Chip!" said Cleo enthusiastically. "I've designed it to send a special virus, called the Nero-Bug, into the central nucleus of any device operated by computer. It breaks down data into micro-microscopic bits that are instantly dissolved by the rest of the virus."

"That sounds so cool!"

"Yeah. It took me two years to make, but I didn't get to finish it!"

"Bummer."

While Don and Cleo were occupied, Mikey started teaching Lizzie how to skateboard. Lizzie had always wanted to skateboard, but had never been able to.

"Okay, you've got the balance down," Mikey was saying. Lizzie was standing on his skateboard. "Now try pushing off with your foot. Once you get going use your feet to steer."

"Okay," said Lizzie. She put her left foot down and pushed off. She was very good at keeping her balance, and steering was getting easier too.

"Looking good!" said Mikey. Lizzie, turning back to wave, didn't see the wall she was coming up on. "Heads up!" called Mikey. Lizzie looked around just in time. She jumped the board into a 360-degree turn and landed ten feet from the wall, still on the board. "You're a natural, Liz!" called Mikey.

"Thanks!" replied Lizzie.

Man she's hot! thought Mikey.

Whoa, he's got gorgeous eyes! thought Lizzie.

Raph made no effort to make friends. He was pretty miffed about having the girls stay in their lair, and he was still furious from his battle with Freida the previous night. He decided to seclude himself in the workout room, taking his anger out on the sandbag, then moving on to lift some weights. He was so absorbed in his frustration that he didn't notice Freida quietly slip into the room, a little cylinder container in her right hand. She felt bad about bruising Raph's jaw, and she wanted to make amends. She cleared her throat in order to get his attention. He looked around, scowled, and then turned his back on her.

"What do you want?" he asked aggressively, not looking at her.

"Uh, look," said Freida, walking slowly towards him, "we kind of got off on the wrong foot last night."

"Kind of?" repeated Raph, a sarcastic bitterness in his voice.

"I'm sorry about kicking you in the jaw like that, and pushing you off of that fire escape platform." Raph shifted his position a bit, so that the bandages on his shins were clearly seen. "And about that too."

"It's a little late for apologies," said Raph.

"I brought something to make your jaw feel better," said Freida. She quickly closed the gap between the two of them. Raph looked up at her, reluctantly putting his dumbbell down on the floor. He shifted around on the stool he sat on, regarding her with a doubtful expression. Freida held out the container. He took it stiffly, turning it over in his hands.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Arnica gel," she replied.

"How does it help?"

"It helps to dispel the blood and make the swelling go down." Raph still looked doubtful.

"Here," Freida kneeled down next to him. She took the container back and opened the lid. She scooped some gel onto her first finger, then, to his surprise, started to dab the gel onto Raph's jaw, and oddly enough, he didn't protest. He noticed how soft her touch was, and his shoulders relaxed.

"There you go," said Freida gently. Raph's eyes softened a bit as he watched her expression turn from apprehensive to nurturing.

"Ah!" Raph inhaled sharply.

"Oh, sorry!" said Freida. She'd accidentally touched a tender spot.

"It's okay," said Raph. Freida took her hand off and handed him back the gel. "Thanks, that helped."

"No problem." There was a pause, then Raph asked, bluntly,

"Why'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"What you just did."

"I wanted to make amends for being such a jerk last night."

"That's…real nice of you."

"Thanks."

"What did you say your name was?"

"Freida."

"Call me Raph." He held out his hand. Freida shook it, smiling.

Once Raph decided to finally leave the workout room (Freida following behind), Leo and Joan took their turn inside. Leo had told Joan about how he enjoyed to meditate, so now Joan wanted to show him a meditative position that she swore was more effective than sitting. She hung by her legs on a pull-up bar and crossed her hands over her chest.

"And then you start chanting," she said. She closed her eyes and started to chant the word "Om".

"Hmm, interesting," said Leo. He went over to a second pull-up bar, hung by his legs, crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and started to chant. They fell into rhythm, their voices blending perfectly, echoing around the domed room. This carried on for a while. Finally, the two of them opened their eyes.

"I've never felt so rejuvenated!" said Leo, letting his arms fall down over his head.

"Yeah, it feels good," agreed Joan, staring at him. Her eyes misted over. Even at this angle, she thought, he's still so cute!

That night, while the rest of the girls slept on the floor and the boys and Splinter were in their rooms for the night, Freida walked around the lair, thinking. The pulse she had felt the other night was not a good sign. It meant that the "complications" that had forced her to flee Montana had followed her to New York City. She had made her sisters come with her in order to protect them.

Well, they can't find out, she thought. If they don't know, then they won't get hurt.

At that moment, Freida's cell phone rang. She froze. She never used her cell phone. Only two people knew her number: Master Lin (but she didn't know where they were), and… Oh no! she thought, It's him! The person who had driven her here was calling her cell phone.

Tentatively, Freida picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"I didn't think you would answer this call, Freida."

Freida gulped. She knew that voice. It was him.

"What do you want?" she asked, trying to sound brave, but sure she was failing miserably.

"I was simply making sure that you made it to New York safely." The voice was that of a Japanese man. He sounded young, but not real young, probably in his thirties.

"How did you know I was in New York?"

"I have my ways," said the voice. Almost instantly, Freida felt another electric pulse surge through her chest. She spasmed, and her energy was sapped. At this she gasped, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that none of her sisters had heard. Lizzie snored loudly, and Cleo shifted on her side, but they all remained asleep. Freida breathed heavily.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" said the voice smugly.

"You…evil…loathsome," growled Freida, her breathing ragged with the effort of talking.

"Now now, there's no need for names. If you had simply accepted my offer in the first place, you wouldn't have to endure the pain." Freida felt another pulse.

"What do you want?" she asked, her teeth clenched against the pain.

"I have a new offer for you," said the voice. "I understand that you are staying with a certain group of ninjas; the "protectors" of New York City." Freida tensed. "I am planning to operate in New York, but I can not do so with the turtles there. So my offer is this: eliminate the four of them from the picture, and I will remove the device that causes you pain. Don't disappoint me, Freida." The line went dead.


	3. Chapter 3: Hidden Pains & Family Tension

Chapter 3

Hidden Pains and Family Tension

Over the next few days, the girls and the boys became fast friends. The girls now came on missions and nightly outings with the boys, helping out when a crime needed to be intervened. But with these days of becoming friends, for Freida it brought almost constant pain. The electric pulses she had to endure became more and more frequent, to they were happening almost every hour. She found that her energy level was becoming lower and lower, and her endurance was fading. She did her best to hide it from the others. Whenever they queried what was wrong, she explained it away as simply a stomachache or hiccups. She thought that Joan might have suspected that there was something wrong, but she never said anything.

The Saturday night after the girls first arrived, all the turtles decided to take an excursion around the Bronx, just to check out the happenings, and to get a workout. Of course, Freida couldn't refuse, but she was very worried that something would go horribly wrong. She would have a hard time explaining any electric pulses that she might, and probably would, have. Freida tried meditating to get some of her strength back. It worked for about one minute. But then she had two pulses in a row. The pain was so bad that she rolled over onto her side, clutching her stomach. At that moment, Raph walked over to where she lay.

"Freida? Are you okay?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Y…Yeah," she gasped, getting to her feet. "I'm fine. Just…muscle cramps."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Well, we're going out now. You coming?"

"Of course." She followed Raph to the entrance.

But Freida was far from okay. As the turtles jumped and flipped over the rooftops, her pulses became steadily worse. While the others where laughing it up and having a blast, Freida was doing her best to endure the pain. While they took pleasure in leaping from the chimneys, water towers, and clothing lines just for the heck of it, Freida found all she could do was run underneath them, or else halt before a jump. After about two hours, she was having trouble keeping up. She first couldn't do flips anymore; but now she could barely run. Her energy and endurance were fading, and she grew physically weaker with every pulse.

Mikey, who was closest in front of her, glanced back and saw her lagging behind.

"Hey Freida!" he called, "What's taking ya?"

" I'm…coming!" she managed to choke out. She had stopped now, her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

"Well hurry up! You're falling behind!" He headed off again. Freida started to run after him. She just couldn't keep up; her energy was down to a minimum. Just ahead, a large space opened up between two buildings. The others jumped it easily, hooting with glee.

"C'mon Freida!" called Lizzie, doing a triple front-flip over the space.

Freida had to try, she just had to. She took the jump. At first it looked like she was going to make it. But during that split second while she was still in mid-air, Freida felt one huge pulse. She winced, which threw her off. Freida's jump fell short of the roof ledge. Normally, she probably could have landed in the ally below without injury, but in her present condition… Freida screamed feebly as she fell.

A couple yards away, the rest of the turtles stopped for a rest.

"I feel on top of the world!" exclaimed Lizzie, plopping down next to Mikey.

"Yeah, they don't have buildings like these back home," agreed Cleo.

"Hey, are we missing anybody?" asked Leo, counting heads. Everyone looked around.

"Huh," said Joan, perplexed, "Freida's not here. I wonder…" But at that moment, they heard a terrified scream.

"What the…?" They looked around.

"What was that?" asked Don. They heard someone yell,

"Joan!"

"Freida?" called Joan.

"Joan! Help! Help me!"

"Freida! Where are you?" called Cleo.

"Over here!"

The turtles followed Freida's frantic voice to the space they had just jumped over.

"Freida?"

"Joan!" they looked down, and saw Freida, hanging from a pipe that was sticking out from the building's wall, about nine feet down.

"Freida, what are you doing?" asked Cleo

"What does it look like I'm doing? Help me!"

"Come on, you can get up here!" laughed Lizzie.

"No…I…can't!" Freida's voice was strained, and it looked like she was having trouble holding on.

"Stop fooling around, Freida! Get your butt up here!" ordered Joan.

"I can't! I can't hold on much longer!"

The boys noticed that her grip was loosening, and her teeth were clenched.

"Uh, Joan?" said Raph, who was starting to get worried, "I don't think she's kidding."

"I'm not kidding!" yelled Freida. "Help me Joan!"

The pipe started to sag, and then it jerked.

"Freida?" called Lizzie, her smile fading. The pipe sagged some more. Freida cried out. Another pulse caused her to spasm horribly. The others gasped as the pipe bent in the middle.

"Freida!"

"Here, Donny, lower your staff," said Leo. Don got down on his knees and lowered his bo over the edge. Leo climbed down and hooked his legs around the staff. "Lower me down," he said. Raph grabbed Don around the waist so that he wouldn't slip forward.

"Thanks," said Don. Slowly, he lowered Leo down towards Freida. When he got close enough, Leo reached his hands down to her.

"Grab on!" Freida reached up with one hand, and Leo seized it. "Okay, now the other one," he said encouragingly. Freida braced herself, and hoisted the other hand up. Leo caught it. "Hang on Freida." Freida held on tight. But then she felt yet another shocking pulse, and spasmed again, causing her grip to slacken and the line to jerk. Raph grunted with the effort of keeping his arms wrapped firmly around Don's waist. "Stay with me now," said Leo. He craned his neck around to look behind him. "Haul up Raph!" Raph and Don pulled upward. A few moments later, Leo and Freida were safely on the roof.

"Th…Thanks guys," she gasped.

"Freida, what was all that about?" The turtles were back at the lair. Freida plopped down in one of the armchairs. She was so tired. But Joan was fed up with not knowing what was wrong with her.

"Freida!"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Freida, not looking at her furious sister.

"I think we have to talk about it," said Joan, "What is going on with you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you seem to always be in pain these days!" Joan was starting to yell. "What's with the spaz-attacks? Why couldn't you keep up with us tonight? Why'd you fall, and how come you couldn't get back up without help?"

Freida stood up angrily.

"Why do you even care?" she asked, also yelling, "None of that is any of your business!"

"Oh, yes it is!" Joan yelled back, "When one of my sisters has a problem, it is sooo my business!"

Both girls were seething now. The others stood back, at a loss for what to do.

"Does any of this have anything to do with why we left Montana?" asked Joan.

"You don't need to know about any of that!" shouted Freida.

"Of course I do! All of this secrecy nonsense is really getting old. I've got a right to know!"

"Oh, you have a right to know," snarled Freida, "What about Cleo, or Lizzie?

Shouldn't you be standing up for their right to know?" Joan started, caught off guard by this strange retort.

"I…What?"

"You see? That's your problem! You think every little thing we do should come under your jurisdiction! I can't deal with my own problems without having you butting in! Just because you make all the decisions around here doesn't make you the leader!"

"You think I don't know that?" snapped Joan. "I make all the decisions for this team because it's my responsibility as the eldest to take care of you guys."

"Oh sure! You take real good care of us, by ordering us around and telling us what to do, like we're a trio of pre-schoolers."

"Freida! Joan!" said Leo, "Enough! Stop it!" But the two of them just ignored him.

"Hey I'm not the one who forced us to come here! That decision was made by you!"

"Yeah! For a good reason that you need not concern yourself with!"

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't! You are not the leader!"

"Enough of this leadership nonsense, you idiot!"

"Don't you call me an idiot, Control Freak!"

"I am not a control freak! The only thing I'm really in control of is my temper, which is more than I can say for you, Freeza!"

Cleo and Lizzie gasped. Freida looked livid.

"Oh no she didn't!" exclaimed Lizzie excitedly.

"What?" asked Mikey.

" 'Freeza' is the ultimate insult for Freida," replied Cleo.

"Oh, now that's way below the belt," snarled Freida, "Even for you, Joad."

Cleo gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. Joan looked as though Freida had slapped her.

"Oh now that's cold!" said Lizzie.

Joan glowered at Freida.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," she breathed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Freida sarcastically, "Let me make it clearer for you." She walked up and shoved Joan in the chest.

"Don't you push me!" said Joan, who shoved Freida back.

"Okay, that's it!" Freida pulled out her fans, set them on a table, and leaped at Joan. The two of them started to wrestle, ninjitsu put aside.

"Cut it out you two!" shouted Cleo, but they weren't listening. Joan and Freida rolled around on the floor, each trying to pin down the other. Freida got on top of Joan, and pulled her fist back for a punch. Joan moved her head out of the way just in time, and Freida punched the floor. She yelled in pain, clutching her hand while Joan slipped out from under her. She elbowed Freida in the cheek, and locked her in a submission hold. Freida snapped her knee up and whapped Joan in the face, then jumped back to regain her ground. Joan also stood up, and Freida rushed at her with a palm strike, but Joan caught her wrist and flipped her sister head-over-heels onto the ground. Freida rolled to her feet, and the two of them collided with a loud smack! They pushed on each other's shoulders, locked in place by their entwined arms.

Raph and Leo ran over to separate the quarreling sisters. Leo grabbed Joan and put her in a half-nelson, while Raph seized Freida and put her in a headlock. The two girls struggled against their holders, trying to get at each other. But then Freida had another pulse. She spasmed and stopped struggling. Joan stopped struggling too. Raph and Leo released them. They stood there for a minute, huffing and puffing, glaring at each other.

"What is going on in here?" Splinter had just walked in. No one spoke. He looked accusingly at the two of them. "Freida? Joan?"

"Sorry…I need some air," said Freida. She walked out without a backward glance.

Joan let out an enormous sigh, bowing her head into her hand.

"Will it never end?" Everyone looked around. Cleo was standing with her hands on her hips, eyeing Joan with a disappointed gaze. "I mean, no wonder Master Lin doesn't think we're ready for a leader. Will there ever be a time when you and Freida don't fight?" She shook her head in sorrow.

"You mean they always do this?" Mikey asked Lizzie in a whisper.

"Yeah," Lizzie whispered back. "I'm surprised that they lasted this long. Back home, Joan and Freida fight almost every day. And I mean they really fight; they don't just shout at each other." Mikey grimaced. Not even Leo and Raph had been that bad. They had only really fought once, and he hadn't been there to see it, but he had heard that Raph had won.

Joan cast her eyes downward. She knew Cleo was right, but now was not the time for feeling sorry for herself.

"We can't let her go out on her own," she said, addressing everyone now. "There's something wrong that she's not telling us about." She turned to the boys. "I'm really sorry about this."

"Don't be, we understand," Leo replied, catching Raph's eye with a meaningful glance. Raph nodded.

"I'll follow her," he said, "Maybe I can talk to her."

"Uh-oh." Lizzie was staring at a small table near the couch, her hands over her mouth.

"What's wrong Lizzie?"

"Freida forgot her fans!" She pointed at the table, were two black metal fans were lying next to each other. The girls gasped.

"Raph, hurry," pleaded Joan.

It didn't take Raph long to track Freida down. With the electric pulses happening so frequently, she hadn't gotten far. She was traveling over rooftops, but at a slow pace, often stopping to catch her breath.

What's happening to her? Raph wondered. He had grown to really like Freida and he was worried about her. He hoped that she was all right. Yeah, I like her, he thought, but just as a friend. Just as a friend…

Raph hadn't noticed where they were heading, so he was surprised to see Freida jump off of the metal plaited warehouse that they had been running over. Freida landed awkwardly, collapsing onto one knee. Raph ducked down behind some crates to watch her.

It turned out that Raph had followed Freida to a wharf looking out onto the New York Harbor. The wharf was lined with moored cargo barges, and long docks jutted out from the main lot. Here and there Raph could see storage warehouses, stacks of cargo crates, and large bundles of rope scattered untidily along the walkway. The Statue of Liberty could be seen from where they were. The wharf had very few lights, so large areas around the water were hidden in shadow. Where Freida now stood was bathed in the soft yellow glow from a nearby storage garage. Freida got up and looked around; there was no one there besides herself, or so she thought. She suddenly tensed. From where Raph was sitting, he saw her sniff the air. Unbeknownst to him, Freida had a strangely acute sense of smell, better than that of an average turtle. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then snapped her eyes open. She spun around. From somewhere in the shadows, there came a soft, sinister laugh.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up." A short, thin Japanese man wearing a neat black suit came striding up the wharf towards Freida.

"Yoshihiro Suzuki," breathed Freida

"Hello Freida," sneered the man.

Who the heck is he? Raph wondered.

"I must say, I'm surprised that you came to see me," said Yoshihiro Suzuki, a smirk playing across his thin face.

"I didn't come to see you, Slimeball," said Freida, her fists clenched, "I came here to be alone."

"Still such a stubborn loner," said Suzuki, shaking his head. "Did you do as I asked?"

"No way," growled Freida, "I'd rather live with these pulses of pain you put me through for the rest of my life than do anything to harm those turtles."

Raph had to shove his fist in his mouth to keep from shouting "What?" Freida was supposed to have gotten rid of him and his brothers?

"Tut tut. Hardly cooperative Freida. Oh well, you won't have to wait long for that I'm afraid."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the device I have been using to keep you in line."

"You mean to torture me?"

"Precisely. You see, that device is designed to siphon off more and more of your energy every time it activates. So, the longer you have it in you, the less time you have to live." Suzuki smiled as he explained this.

"You can't intimidate me," said Freida, squaring her shoulders and staring Suzuki straight in the face. Raph grinned.

You go girl, he thought.

"Can't I?" asked Yoshihiro Suzuki. "I know that you brought your sisters here to New York. Thinking you could protect them? You can't even protect yourself." He pulled a button out of his Armani suit pocket, and pressed it. Freida felt pulse after pulse after pulse as Suzuki held the button down. It was like he was forcing her to shove a finger in an electrical socket. Raph saw Freida writhe in pain, collapse onto one knee, then the other, and finally roll over onto her side, doubled over and practically crying. Raph wanted to strangle that jerk. He got up, ready to run over and beat the living daylights out of Suzuki. But before he got farther than three steps, Raph stepped on a rotten plank and his foot fell through. He couldn't move. Raph glanced up to see if anyone had heard the crash, but Suzuki was too absorbed in torturing Freida to notice.

Raph couldn't do anything but sit and watch Freida suffer.

"Enough!" she screamed. Yoshihiro Suzuki let go of the button, and Freida fell temporarily limp, tears in her eyes, whimpering. She struggled to her feet, and stood up strait. "You…will never…win!"

"That was just a taste," said Yoshihiro Suzuki, " of the pain your sisters and your friends will feel if you don't cooperate." Freida and Raph tensed at the same moment.

"If you lay a finger on any of them, I'll "

"You'll what? The most you can do is knock me unconscious. It's not your way to kill." Suzuki started walking towards Freida. "But I can do whatever I want to you." Raph saw six black flashes wiz past Freida's face. Freida felt the black flashes scratch her cheeks. Six thuds preceded the flashes. Raph looked to see six throwing stars stuck in the side of a large crate behind Freida. Three long, white slash marks appeared on each of Freida's cheeks. The throwing stars hadn't broken the skin, but had left marks that were deep enough that they might leave permanent scars.

"Ow," whispered Freida. It was killing Raph to just sit there and watch this, but his foot was really stuck.

Fight back, Freida. Fight!

"Are you trying to make a point here?" asked Freida.

"Freida, why do you think I am here?" asked Yoshihiro Suzuki.

"You're trying to operate in New York City."

"Yes, and the only thing standing in my way is?" He gestured at Freida to answer.

"The ninja turtles," she replied. Suzuki shook his head. "No…" Freida's eyes widened with blinding realization as the answer dawned on her. "Me. I'm the only thing standing in your way. That's why you asked me to work for you in the first place, because I'm a threat to you."

"Exactly."

"But why me?" asked Freida. "Why not me and my sisters?"

"Freida, Freida," said Suzuki, shaking his head tragically. "You are different from your sisters. You are so much fiercer than them. You fight harder, you're ruthless, and you have a hot temper. You're the perfect henchperson." Freida clenched her fists.

"You've got the wrong turtle. I'm nothing like the kind of scum that work for you, Suzuki."

"I beg to differ, after that little display tonight. You're jealous of your older sister. You think that you could be a better leader than her. You wish to be chosen, but you know that Joan will be the one chosen for leader. She's the oldest; it's only fit, which is quite a shame. She is weak."

"Shut up!" shouted Freida.

"But you could be a leader Freida," continued Suzuki. "One last chance. Will you join me?"

"Never," spat Freida. She got into a fighting stance.

"You can't fight me alone, Freida,"

"Watch me,"

Freida and Yoshihiro Suzuki ran at each other. Freida aimed a jab with a follow through back punch at Suzuki's face, but he dodged it. She pivoted on her left foot and kicked out sideways and up, but he dodged that too. Freida spun around and kicked backwards, jumped and kicked forward, and back-fist punched at Suzuki, but he dodged everything. He was just too fast.

"Fight back!" shouted Freida.

"Gladly," said Suzuki. His hand flew out and back so fast that Raph didn't catch what happened until he saw Freida jump back, rubbing her nose. Suzuki darted forward. His attacks were so fast that Freida could barely block them. He kicked out with his right foot and knocked both of her arms out of the way. Then Suzuki triple-punched Freida in the chest, and followed through by swinging his right foot out, up, and in to slam the side of his foot into the side of her head, knocking her sideways. Freida fell heavily on the ground.

Freida, now seething with anger and wracked with pain, reached for her fans. But they weren't there! She looked down at her belt in alarm. Her fans were gone! Then she remembered: she had left her fans back at the lair. Raph saw the look of horror on her face and surmised that she must have realized that she had left her fans at home.

Oh no, thought Raph.

"Oh no," whispered Freida.

"What's the matter Freida?" asked Suzuki mockingly. "Did you forget something?" Freida stood up.

"I don't need my fans to beat you!"

"Really?" Suzuki pulled out the button and pushed it again, holding it down. Freida spasmed again and again. The pain from the shocks was unbearable; so much that Freida didn't notice that Suzuki was walking towards her again. Raph saw his hand ball into a fist and tuck into his side. Raph desperately tried to free himself, but his foot was restricted by the broken edges of the plank. He was to scream, but he didn't want to be discovered. All he could do was watch as Suzuki hit Freida with an uppercut hard enough to knock her backwards.

Freida slammed into a large crate. She was stunned, her head spinning. Suzuki let go of the button. Then he snapped his fingers loudly. At the sound of that snap, six black-dressed ninjas appeared from out of the shadows. At first Raph thought they were Foot ninjas*, but they were dressed differently: they wore red belts and their eyes could be seen from under their black face masks. At Suzuki's signal, two of the ninjas seized Freida by the arms, while the other four drew their katanas and pointed them at her. Freida was too weak to fight back.

"Shall we?" Suzuki signaled the ninjas, and they started pushing and dragging Freida towards the end of one of the docks, where a speedboat had just pulled up.

They're not going to take me! Freida struggled, kicking and writhing, but she still wasn't strong enough to break free. Raph couldn't take it anymore. He whipped out one of his sais, raised the hilt over his head, and brought it down, hard, on the rotten plank. It splintered and broke, freeing his foot. Raph pulled it out of the hole and sprinted towards the dock, his heart beating out of his chest. Yoshihiro Suzuki got into the boat. Raph was halfway down the dock. He couldn't let them get away. The ninjas pushed Freida into the boat, and strapped her to a seat. Raph neared the edge of the dock. A ninja untied the boat from a metal cleat a little ways up the dock.

"NO!" Raph made a snatch for the rope, but the ninja pulled it up and jumped into the boat. He told Suzuki that Raph was coming.

"Move then!" ordered Suzuki. The motor revved and the boat began to leave. Raph couldn't move fast enough. In desperation he yelled,

"Freida!" Freida looked back.

"Raph?" But the boat shot away. "Raph!" Freida cried. Raph reached the edge of the dock, but it was too late. He watched in horror as the speedboat rocketed away, towards the Statue of Liberty.


	4. Chapter 4: Abducted

Chapter 4

Abducted

Raph stood on the edge of the dock, his mouth hanging open in shock and frustration. She was gone. He hadn't been able to save her. Raph roared and hit himself in the head. It was like that incident last month, when he hadn't been able to save Leo from being kidnapped. But this was a different kind of bad feeling. He hadn't weakened Freida, making her easier to capture. It was that evil slime bucket, Yoshihiro Suzuki. He had to go back to the lair and get help. Raph turned and ran full speed back up the wharf.

Back home, everyone was restless, waiting for Raph and Freida to come back. Leo was pacing back and forth. Joan was sitting in a chair, her face in her hands. What a fool she had been. She should've known better than to have started shouting at Freida. Freida shuts up like a clam when something's bugging her, thought Joan. She won't let on what's wrong unless you're really sensitive to her feelings. Leo looked over at Joan. He knew exactly how she felt, like she'd let her sibling down. He walked over to her. Joan felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Leo smiling encouragingly down at her. He kneeled down in front of her, taking her hand in his.

"It'll be okay," he said gently, "Raph will find her." Joan gulped, and nodded, a smile slowly crossing her face. She liked the warmth of his hand on her shoulder, and of the one that held her hand. She sighed, drawn to his soft eyes, gleaming with a reassuring light.

"Yeah!" said Mikey, who had gotten bored and was now doing sit-ups. Lizzie was holding his feet. "Trust us, Raph wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't find Freida." He grinned widely. Lizzie giggled impulsively. He had such a nice smile.

"And besides," added Don, who was tinkering with some small devices at the kitchen table. Cleo was helping him make some final adjustments on them. "Raph's really good at talking sense into people, despite the fact that he himself has trouble with having someone talk sense into him. No offense to Freida." He glanced quickly at Cleo, who smiled and waved her hand in a fashion that said, "None taken." "Anyway," continued Don, "I'll bet they'll drop in any m…"

"Leo!" They all looked up. Up on the first level, Raph was running towards them like the Furies of the underworld were after him. He leaped down the stairs and ran strait to Leo.

"Raph!" Leo cried as he ran to meet him. Raph doubled over, his hands on his knees, gasping.

"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Leo, putting a hand on Raph's shoulder.

"Where's Freida?" asked Joan, getting up from her chair.

"Freida…I couldn't stop…gone," was all Raph could manage. He looked really upset.

"Here." Leo took his brother by the arm and led him over to the couch. He sat down next to Raph and put his arm around his shoulders. Raph was shaking and he looked close to tears. Leo hadn't seen him this upset in a long time.

"Calm down Raph," said Leo gently, "It's okay." The rest of the turtles and Splinter crowded around them.

"Raphael," said Splinter, putting a hand on Raph's hand. Raph looked up at him. "It's alright, we are here. Now, please tell us what is wrong."

Raph took a couple deep breaths, closed his eyes, opened them again, and started to speak. His deep, rough voice was so hoarse and choked up that the others had to lean in to listen.

"I followed Freida to a wharf just outside of Brooklyn. At least, that's what I think, because I could see the Statue of Liberty from there. Anyway, on the way over, Freida didn't seem right; she kept having to stop and catch her breath. When we jumped off a rooftop that ended up at the wharf, she kind of…fell, and she collapsed onto one knee after she landed. When she stood up, she started…well, sniffing the air."

"Freida's got a very acute sense of smell," said Cleo.

"Oh, anyway, I guess she caught a whiff something, because she turned around and stared at this spot near a warehouse. Then this Japanese guy appeared and started talking to Freida. He was obviously an enemy, 'cause she wasn't happy to see him."

"What was the man's name?" asked Joan seriously.

"I don't know. It was…Yoshi…Yoshi something."

"Yoshihiro Suzuki?"

"Yeah, that's the guy."

"No way!" exclaimed Lizzie.

"Who's Yoshihiro Suzuki?" asked Don.

"We ran into him about a year ago," said Cleo.

"I think he's the reason Freida made you guys come here to New York," said Raph.

"What did Suzuki do?" asked Joan.

"He pulled out some kind of button," continued Raph. "When he pressed it, Freida started having those weird spaz-attacks. She called them pulses. I think they were like some kind of electric shock or something. They hurt her, a lot. It looked like she was being tortured, and that creep enjoyed doing it." He sniffed.

"Just relax, Raph," said Leo, "Take your time."

"I was watching all this from behind some crates. I couldn't do anything because my foot fell through a rotten plank and got stuck. I couldn't help her."

"It's okay Raph," said Mikey, "It's not your fault."

"Why'd Freida keep having these…convulsions?" asked Don.

"Suzuki said there was some kind of device inside of Freida. It pulses whenever Suzuki presses the button, and, besides being excruciating, it weakens her whenever it activates, sapping her energy."

"So that's why she's been so off lately," said Cleo.

"Then they started fighting. Freida couldn't hit Suzuki; he could dodge everything. His punches were really fast, faster than I've ever seen. He knocked Freida down, and …and." Raph had to stop for a moment.

"She realized that she forgot her fans, didn't she?" asked Cleo.

"Yeah," whispered Raph, "I've never seen anyone look so scared."

"Poor Freida!" whimpered Lizzie.

"She only uses her fans when she really, really needs them," said Joan. "She knows that there are times when she can't fight without them. For her to come up against an opponent like Yoshihiro Suzuki without her fans…" Joan shuddered. Raph continued on.

"Suzuki pressed the button again, then knocked Freida into a crate. I think she was dazed, because she didn't get up right away. Then Suzuki summoned some ninjas. They captured Freida and drove off in a speedboat. I…I wasn't fast enough to…to save her." Raph stopped, and put his face in his hands. Leo patted him on the arm.

"It's alright Raph. It's not your fault, you did your best."

"Right," said Joan, standing up. "Where was the speedboat heading?"

"Liberty Island," Raph answered through his fingers. Joan nodded.

"Girls," she said, then inclined her head to the boys, "and Guys, we've got a Code Grey on our hands. This means that one of our number has been taken behind enemy lines. Here's what we do: we go to Liberty Island, find Freida, free her, and stop Yoshihiro Suzuki, because whatever he has in mind it can't be good."

"But how are we supposed to get there?" asked Lizzie.

"Yeah," agreed Mikey, "I mean it's not like we have jet packs or anything."

"Well, not quite," said Don, smirking.

"What do you mean?" asked Leo. Raph looked up from his hands.

"I've been working on something that I think you guys will like," said Don smugly. He walked over to the kitchen table. He picked up the things that he and Cleo had been tinkering with, and held them up. The things looked like black shoebox lids with straps on them. They each had two small openings on the back of them, which looked like mini rocket boosters.

"What are…? Are those rocket shoes?!" asked Mikey excitedly.

"You better believe it!" said Don, handing two to each turtle. "Just a little something I've been working on."

"These are amazing, Donny!" said Leo, turning the shoes over. "How do they work?"

"What you do is you angle and sweep your feet back and forth, like you would for roller skates, to make them go forward," explained Don, "You turn by angling the heels of your feet in the direction opposite of where you want to go. You start the boosters by tapping the toes on the ground."

"Don," said Mikey, grinning, "I love you!"

"Likewise little brother," said Don.

"Okay," said Leo, also standing up. "The plan is to rescue Freida and stop Yoshihiro Suzuki."

"You coming Sensei?" asked Mikey.

"Of course," said Splinter, "as long as you have a pair of those rocket shoes for me!" Don looked a little taken aback, but nodded all the same. Raph looked around at them, his eyes shadowed with doubt.

"You too, Big Guy," said Mikey, clapping his older brother on the shell. Raph hesitated, and then broke into a fiercely determined grin.

"Alright then," he said, punching his palm. "Let's knock some heads !"

On Liberty Island, Freida found herself locked in a cell with large shackles on her wrists. Luckily her wristbands protected her skin from getting chafed or cut. The shackles held her hands behind her back, and the chain connecting the shackles was, in turn, bolted to the wall. In front of her, half-inch thick iron bars prevented the turtle from moving outside the cell. Freida felt hopelessly trapped, but she would not give in, not when everyone she cared about depended on her.

Yoshihiro Suzuki's base of operations was secretly located under the Statue of Liberty, made up of maze-like hallways that wound their way through a space underneath the statue's plinth below sea level. Freida's cell was located in Suzuki's office, which was hidden inside the plinth itself, somehow built in an area separate from the public entrance area. The office was circular, with the walls painted red. On the left side of the office sat a large security panel, complete with video monitors and keyboards connecting the office with the security system for the whole base. On the right side of the office sat a grand mahogany desk piled high with books and papers. The far end of the office held an assortment of expensive leather couches and crystalline coffee tables. Bookshelves lined the walls behind the furniture. At the other end of the room, a large elevator door sat gleaming in the light from the diamond chandelier that lit the room.

Suzuki now paced back and forth around his office, pressing the electric pulse button every two minutes. Freida's energy (and maybe her life force) was waning. She didn't think she could take much more. If it weren't for the fact that it was her sisters, the boys, and her pride on the line, Freida felt that she would surely give up, break down, and give in. But no, that's not what Master Lin had taught her. Master Lin had always told them that to admit defeat is to admit your own failure; defeat is only valid in a fight, not in a mission or capture. Freida couldn't fail the others, or fail herself. At first, Freida had been annoyed that Raph had followed her to the wharf. But that annoyance didn't last long, when she realized that Raph had followed her to make sure she didn't get hurt. Freida knew she had been stupid to just walk out like that, forgetting her fans. And the way she had treated Joan! Freida hung her head in shame.

What's the matter with me? she asked herself. I brought my sisters here to protect them, but I only ended up getting myself caught and chained helplessly in a cell. And only after fighting with Joan. A knot welled up in Freida's throat. But she cast the thought from her mind. Instead, she concentrated on another emotion. She felt touched that Raph had been the one to follow her. She had seen to look on his face when he was too late to save her; he had looked so horrified. What a sweet turtle! thought Freida, He's rough on the outside, but on the inside…he seems softer, and he's actually pretty good-looking. I always did like the strong silent type. Freida sighed. What a guy.

"I certainly hope you're still awake, Freida," said Suzuki. He pressed the pulse button again. Freida snapped out of her reverie.

"Like you care!" she said venomously.

"As a matter of fact," said Suzuki, stopping in his pacing, "I care very much about whether or not you're awake."

"Why? So you can start bragging?"

"Precisely. I'd really love to tell you about my plan."

"Oh! I'm so thrilled!" said Freida, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I thought you might be," said Suzuki.

"You see, the device inside you is actually a prototype," said Suzuki. "I put it in you as a test, so that I could fine tune it and be sure that it worked properly. Now, as it turns out, the device is perfect."

"Well I'm glad that all my pain and suffering has proven useful to your cause," said Freida, baring her teeth.

"Yes, well. My actual plan is to ensure that every criminal in this city is implanted with these electric devices." Suzuki smiled at the thought. There was a pause.

" What? That is just about the dumbest plan I have ever heard of!" said Freida. Then she laughed. "You're losing your touch Suzuki."

"Now now, you need to keep an open mind, Freida. Tell me, just how many criminals do you think there are in this city?"

"Probably half as many as there are citizens," said Freida, shrugging. Suzuki smiled again. Then it hit her. Freida's eyes widened.

"Total control, that's right," said Suzuki. "Criminals are much easier to control when they are tortured. If I control the criminal element of this city, I control both its resources, and a good portion of its citizens."

"There's no way you're going to get away with this," said Freida. She struggled at her bonds, but to no avail. "I'll bet you anything that my sisters and the boys are heading here right now to rescue me. Then you'll be sorry, Suzuki."

"Oh, I have planned on your friends coming. I'll have something waiting for them when they get here."

"No matter what you do to me, they'll make you wish you were never born."

"You know, Freida," said Suzuki, walking towards the cell, "I'm getting quite tired of your on going insults." Freida snorted.

"Oh please! I'll complain and yell and riot at you as long as I'm here!"

"I'll ask you again politely," said Suzuki, still walking closer and closer to the cell, "Please be quiet Freida."

"Um…no. I don't think I will."

"Very well. I hate to do this to you, Freida, but you leave me no choice."

Suzuki pressed a button on the wall next to the cell. With a clanking sound, the bars were pulled up into the ceiling, so that there was no barrier between Freida and Yoshihiro Suzuki.

"If you won't behave yourself, I'll have to make you." He pressed another button. Iron bands clapped around Freida's ankles, binding them to the long bench on which she sat on. Another band clapped around her middle. She gasped as she felt her hands being crushed by her shell, which was now being forced against the wall. Now Freida couldn't move at all. Suzuki stepped into the cell; Freida gulped.

"Now," he murmured, "be a good little turtle and hold still."


	5. Chapter 5: Rescue Mission

Chapter 5

Rescue Mission

Out on the bay between the wharf and Liberty Island, the turtles, the girls, and Splinter were rocketing across the water. The shoes propelled them forward at a speed that kept their feet from going beneath the water's surface. Most of them had to concentrate on staying on course. Mikey and Lizzie, on the other hand, were doing their best to turn the whole thing into a sport. They zigzagged this way and that, catching a wave every now and then and jumping a few feet in the air, whooping all the while.

"Stop fooling around you two!" called Don and Cleo, "We're almost there!" Mikey and Lizzie fell back into formation with the others. As the eight of them neared the island, Leo spotted what looked like an underwater tunnel going into the side of the island. He whistled to the others and pointed at the tunnel. They all nodded. As one, the turtles and Splinter cut the shoes' engines, took a great lungful of air, pointed their toes, and plunged into the tunnel, hoping for the best. Luckily, the tide gave them a bit of a push, so they made it through the tunnel in less than 2 minutes. At the end of the tunnel, their heads broke the surface, and they climbed, gasping, onto a ledge that led to a doorway built into the tunnel wall.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Leo, taking his wristbands off and wringing them dry.

"I think I bumped into an eel or something back there," said Mikey. He checked his arms for bites, but there were none. Splinter wrung his robe dry. Joan took out Freida's fans and opened the up to let the water drain. Curious, Raph looked over at the fans. They were actually quite large, spanning the length of four human hands, the top of each fan tipped with a row of sharp points. They were the same shade of black as Freida's mask. They also had red writing on them. It looked Japanese.

"Hey, Joan," said Raph, "What does that writing on Freida's fans say?" Joan looked at the writing.

"I don't know," she answered, "Japanese isn't my strong point."

"Here, let me see," said Don. Joan handed the fans over to him, and he looked them over carefully. "Well, this one says, 'Dragon's Claw'." He held one up. "And this one says, 'Phoenix's Cry'."

"What about the writing on the back of the fans?" asked Cleo. Don turned them over.

" 'Kilin's Horn' and 'Tortoise's Lore'."

"Ancient charms," said Splinter knowingly, "In feudal times, warriors would write charms on their weapons to ensure victory. The Dragon, the Phoenix, the Kilin, and the Tortoise were the four sacred animals of China and Japan."

"Did Freida write that?" asked Leo.

"I should say so," said Joan, "She's fluent in Japanese."

"Well, we'll have to ask, once we spring her," said Leo, "Let's move."

The doorway at the end of the tunnel opened up into a long hallway that wound it's way under the statue's pedestal. The low ceiling and the narrowness of the hallway gave the girls a claustrophobic tightness in their chests. There were many doors along the hallway, but, thankfully, hardly any guards. The turtles only had to knock out four of Suzuki's ninjas: as they crept up behind each one of them and whacked them on the head. The ninjas crumpled to the floor without even knowing what had hit them. The doors lining the hallway each had a single square window. Leo checked every room, but Freida wasn't in any of them. When they came up on the fifteenth door, Leo took one look in the window, and jumped a foot off of the ground.

"What is it, Leonardo?" asked Splinter.

"There are a lot of ninjas in this room," answered Leo. "They're standing around a…really big computer."

"Really?" asked Don. He crept over to the window. "Whoa!" he breathed. Inside the room, at least two dozen ninjas, were huddled around a computer the size of a classroom chalkboard. "They must be guarding it. It probably contains some valuable information." Don was very excited.

"Maybe we can use it to find Freida," suggested Raph.

"But how are we going to get in there without them seeing us?" asked Lizzie. Cleo took something out of her belt and crept forward to wedge herself between Don and Leo. She pressed what looked like the tip of a pen against the glass, and pointed it at one of the fluorescent light panels that lined the room's ceiling.

"Watch the fireworks," said Cleo. A laser beam shot from the tip of the pen and hit the light panel. Luckily it was silent, so the ninjas didn't notice. But they did notice that the lights flickered and died out. The turtles and Splinter slipped into the room. There were power yells and battle cries and the sounds of fighting. The turtles' favored tactic when faced with a room full of enemies was to blind their opponents (they take out any lighting in the area) before taking them out, instead of risking injury in a visible fight. The lights flickered back on to reveal all of the ninjas lying unconscious on the floor. The turtles and Splinter stood above them, twirling their weapons and chuckling to themselves.

"Cake," sniggered Cleo.

Don went over to the computer and turned it on. Raph locked the door, and then joined the others around the computer. Don clicked on a file that read, "Base Map". The computer asked for a password.

"Can you crack it, Donny?" asked Leo.

"Of course," said Don. He thought for a moment, and then typed in a word. Access was granted.

"Nice!" said Mikey and Lizzie.

"What'd you use? The company design?" asked Cleo.

"No, but good guess," replied Don, "I used 'evil'. It seems to be a favorite among so-called criminal masterminds."

"Genius."

Don opened the file. It contained a detailed layout of the base.

"Okay, here's where we are." He pointed at the room marked, 'Data Storage Room." He cruised over the map. There weren't any rooms where Freida could be held, so he clicked up to the next floor. The cruiser moved up to a point in the center of the Statue's plinth. There was a room marked, 'Boss's Office'.

"Click on that one, Don," said Joan. Don clicked. The image of the office enlarged. In the corner, there was a little chamber labeled, 'Guest Accommodations.'

"Guest Accommodations?" read Cleo, raising her brow line.

"It says 'Unwilling' at the bottom in parenthesis," said Don.

"Oh, well, there you go."

"That's where they're keeping Freida," said Joan.

"'Figures Suzuki would keep Freida in his office!" said Lizzie. "Who knows what he's putting her through!"

Don looked at the map.

"The only way in is by the main elevator," he said.

"Perhaps we could the elevator without being detected," suggested Splinter. "How big is the elevator, Donatello?"

"Big enough to hold ten men."

"Perhaps we could ride on top of the elevator, then climb through the hold in the ceiling. That way, no one will see us."

"That actually sounds pretty good," said Joan.

"Okay," said Leo, "Let's go."

The only problem with this plan was the fact that the door to the computer room had a laser tripwire, which the turtles and Splinter had unknowingly walked through. Yoshihiro Suzuki new that they were in the building. Smirking, he flipped a switch on his security console. Down below, as the gang neared the elevator doors, they heard a loud rumbling sound above their heads.

"What the…?" A large square opening appeared in the ceiling, and a large iron cage dropped on top of them. They were caught.

"What the heck is going on here?" yelled Raph, rattling the cage bars furiously. "Who set off an alarm?"

"I think we all did," said Cleo. "There must have been some sort of security alarm in that room!"

"No one bothered to check for any of that stuff when we walked in there?" asked Mikey. All of the sudden, the cage, floor and all, shot up into the opening in the ceiling, like it was being sucked up by a giant vacuum. They were traveling upward so fast that they were pinned hard against the cage floor. After about 30 seconds, they started to slow down. There was grinding sound, and another square opening appeared above the shaft that the cage had been traveling in. The cage rose up through the floor, and finally settled. The gang shook themselves and looked around. They were in Yoshihiro Suzuki's office, hidden in the upper part of the statue's plinth. And standing in front of them, a smug smile hitched on his thin face, was Suzuki himself.

"Welcome," greeted Suzuki, bowing to his prisoners. "At last we meet, Turtles." He looked over at Splinter. "I see you've brought your mentor here with you. How charming."

Splinter uttered something inaudible.

"I'm afraid you're the only one charmed here, Suzuki," he said.

"How'd you know he was our mentor?" asked Leo, his eyes narrowed.

"Ah," Suzuki shifted his attention to Leo, "You must be the leader. Leonardo, isn't it?" Leo nodded slowly. "And these are your younger brothers," said Suzuki, leering at each of them in turn. "Donatello. Michelangelo. Raphael. It is a pleasure." Mikey, Don, and Raph just glared. "And of course," said Suzuki, turning to the girl turtles, "the Hidden Shell turtles, or at least three of them."

"Hidden Shell?" repeated Leo, glancing at Joan.

"That's what we called ourselves back home," replied Joan, "It was our signature, our calling card."

"It's been too long, Joan," said Suzuki. "My greetings extend to you too, Cleopatra, Elizabeth." Cleo and Lizzie gave him stone faces.

"Where's Freida?" demanded Joan.

"Why, hadn't you noticed?" asked Suzuki, his lip curling. "She's over there." He waved at the right side of the room. The turtles and Splinter moved to the right side of the cage to get a better look. They all gasped.

"Oh…my…gosh," whispered Don. They were looking at a small cell built into the side of the wall. It was dark compared to the red painted walls surrounding it, fronted by iron bars, just like a prison cell. And inside the cell, lying unconscious on her side, was Freida. Her hands were tied behind her back, and she looked absolutely horrible. Her face and neck were bruised all over, and her arms bore foot-long purple and black marks, as if they'd been beaten by a blunt ax. Two black eyes bloomed magnificently behind her mask, and the long white slash marks on her cheeks shone with painful sharpness against the green and purple of her bruised cheeks.

"What did you do to her?" snarled Raph, glowering and looking so fierce that they could all feel the violence emitting from every cell of his body. It definitely wasn't negotiation he had on his mind.

"I simply asked Freida to be quiet. When she refused, well…I'm sure you can surmise."

"You monster!" cried Joan, staring in horror at her sister's limp form. "Is she…?" she choked, afraid to say it.

"No," said Suzuki calmly, walking towards the cell. "No, she's not dead. Not yet, anyway."

"What do you want with us?" demanded Leo.

"I simply want the eight, sorry, nine of you out of the way, Leonardo. You will all stay here while I go out and initiate my plan, which you, by the way, don't need to know." With that, Suzuki fast-walked to the elevator door. "Oh, and another thing," he said, turning to address the group. "I didn't knock Freida unconscious. I think she just fainted from the intensity of the pain. Enjoy your stay." He pressed the down button, and stepped into the elevator.

The moment Suzuki left, the gang heard a painful groan. They looked towards the cell. They saw Freida's eyes flicker open.

"Joan?" she asked weakly.

"Freida!" cried Joan, her voice weak with relief. The others greeted her enthusiastically.

"Freida!"

"Thank goodness!"

"We were so worried!"

"Girls! Guys! You came for me!" said Freida in an exhausted voice. She slowly righted herself, wincing at the pain.

"What did he do to you?" asked Raph, his eyes and voice full of concern.

"He shut me up is what he did!" growled Freida. "He strapped me down, then wailed on me until I fainted. These marks on my arms are from his kicks, and let me tell you, he's got a wicked side-kick."

"What a coward!" said Cleo in outrage.

"It is most dishonorable to attack someone who cannot defend themselves," agreed Splinter. Freida sighed heavily.

"Listen guys," she said, her voice full of shame, "I owe all of you an explanation for my actions."

"You don't have to, really," said Leo gently.

"No, I can't live with it by myself anymore. I've put you guys through too much already." She took a deep breath. "About two years ago, we ran into Yoshihiro Suzuki during the interception of a smuggling operation. Back then, our enemies knew us as the Hidden Shell. Our teacher, Master Lin, gave us the job of monitoring and policing illegal activity in northern Montana, which is where we live. Because of that area's remoteness, criminals are able to conduct illegal activity without any law enforcement getting in their way.

"We had just wrapped up the smugglers, when Yoshihiro Suzuki appeared. He sent out his ninjas to try and subdue us, but we beat the heck out of them." The girls sniggered.

"But then, just when were about to apprehend them, they all vanished, along with Suzuki," said Cleo.

"We thought that was the last time we'd ever see of him," said Joan.

"Well, it wasn't the last I'd ever see of him," continued Freida. "Last month, Suzuki suddenly appeared and approached me while I was taking a walk around the woods near our place. He complimented me on my fighting skill. He said that it surpassed that of my sisters." Freida snorted. "Like I'd really be able to beat you in a fight!" she said, nodding at Joan. "He thought I'd like the idea of a job as one of his ninjas."

"What did you tell him?" asked Cleo smugly.

"I told him to go drink pond scum." The girls laughed. "Anyway, Suzuki said, 'You won't be rid of me.' And then he shot me with a dart gun, so I passed out for…who knows how long."

"You were on that walk for about…four hours," said Cleo, her face screwed up as she tried to remember.

"Oh, so I was out for…two hours. Dang! Well, five weeks later, these pulses of pain began. The pulses are like little sparks of electricity that shock the inside of my body. I guess that's when I realized that he wasn't going to leave me alone. So, I dragged you girls out here to New York City. I was only trying to protect you."

Freida paused. She dropped her gaze to the floor. "But all I did was lead Suzuki to New York. That first night we stayed at your guys' lair, Suzuki called my cell phone. He told me that if I did what I was told, he'd stop the pulses."

"What did he tell you to do?" asked Leo. Freida's eyes shone with tears. When she next spoke it was barely a whisper.

"He told me to eliminate you four, so that he could operate in New York City. He said I had to, if I wanted these pulses to stop." Everyone gasped, except Raph, because he had heard that part already. "I would never do anything to hurt you guys," choked Freida. "I'd rather have these pulses drain the life out of me that do you guys any harm."

"I should have told all of you this in the beginning," said Freida, "but I thought, If you knew…" her voice broke. She gulped. "Trust me, you would have been in more danger it you had known." Freida looked up again.

"Joan."

"Oh Freida," whispered Joan, tears in her eyes now.

"I'm so sorry Joan. Can you ever forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, Freida. I was too hard on you. You had a good reason for keeping secrets, and I should have trusted you. I'm sorry." Freida smiled sadly and nodded. She turned towards the boys.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you guys. Leo, Don, Mikey, Raph, Splinter, can you all forgive me?"

"You have no reason to apologize," said Splinter.

"We know that you were just trying to keep us safe," said Leo.

"It took a lot of guts to keep that kind of stuff quiet," added Raph. He smiled. "We appreciate it." Don and Mikey nodded consolingly, like someone would if they were patting someone else on the back.

"Thank you," said Freida.

"Now we just have to get out of these stupid cages!" said Lizzie.

"There's a button, next to the bars, that opens the cell up," said Freida, gesturing with her head to the button on the wall.

"How can we reach that?" asked Mikey. There was a pause.

"I know!" Don pulled out his bo staff. "Joan, hand me your spear, please." Joan gave him her spear. Don untied his belt and used it to bind the head of the spear to the end of the bo. Then he poked the other end of the staff through the cage bars, and started to reach towards the button.

"Good thinking, Donny!" said Leo. Don reached farther and farther, until the end touched the button. Then he pushed, hard. The button clicked, and the bars of the cell were pulled into the ceiling. The gang exclaimed.

"Yes!"

"Nice one Don!" said Freida. She turned to Cleo. "Cleo, toss me one of your sabers!" Cleo drew a saber and tossed it into the cell. It landed at Freida's feet. She hooked her two toes around the saber's hilt, and transferred it to her mouth. With a grunt, she dropped the saber behind her back. The others watched her wiggle around a bit. There was a loud click, followed by another loud click, and then Freida pulled both of her hands out from behind her back.

The boys gaped at her.

"How did you…?" stammered Don.

"Twist-and-Push lock picking technique," replied Freida. She slowly got to her feet. She winced, clutching her ribs.

"Will you be alright?" asked Joan. "You look too beat up to do any fighting."

"I'll be fine," replied Freida. She stood up strait. "Hold on a sec," she said. She straitened up then…Crack! Crack! she cracked her neck.

"Whoa," breathed Mikey.

"Sorry." She hurried over to the cage. "Drat!" she said, "No keyholes!" Freida put her hands on her hips and looked down at the floor, her brow creased. Suddenly, a crazy idea came to her. She snapped her fingers. "Hey, Joan," she said, "You got my fans?"

"Yeah." Joan handed Freida her fans through the bars of the cage. Freida opened one of the fans, and slipped the other one through the silver ring at the bottom of the open fan. She gripped the closed fan on either side with her hands, and then started doing something very strange. Freida started to spin the closed fan, causing the open fan to rotate, slowly at first, then so fast that the metal fan became a black and red blur.

"Freida?" asked Cleo, "What are you doing?"

"I'm working on getting you guys out of here!" said Freida through clenched teeth. When she got the fan spinning so fast that her hands didn't seem to be moving, Freida stepped towards a bar in the cadge.

"Stand clear," she said shakily, the effort of keeping the fan spinning causing her voice to tremble. The turtles and Splinter edged away from the spot were Freida stood. With a grunt Freida thrust the spinning fan into the cage bar's lower half. A high pitched whining sound emitted from the bar as the fan drilled strait through it, leaving a clear line cut into the metal. Freida jerked the fan out of the bar and plunged it into the one next to it, repeating the procedure, all the while keeping the fan spinning. Finally she wrenched the fan out of the second bar and dropped both fans onto the floor.

"Stand back!" said Freida. The others backed away. Freida took a step back, pivoted sideways on her left foot, and then, with a loud yell, she kicked the first bar with the edge of her foot, then turned and kicked the second bar with the heel of her foot. The bars separated from their bases, bending almost in half.

"There you go!" said Freida. The turtles' mouths were hanging open. Raph stepped forward and pulled the bent bars upward towards the ceiling. They bent completely, making a space big enough for them to get out. One by one, the turtles and Splinter slipped out of the cage. The girls rushed over to Freida and seized her in a group hug. The boys came over and hugged her too.

"Why didn't Suzuki bother to take our weapons?" asked Mikey.

"'Cause the dude thinks that we wouldn't use them to escape. He was too stupid to realize that we would," said Lizzie. They all laughed. Joan picked Freida's fans off of the floor.

"Here Fre," she said, handing Freida the fans, "You're gonna need these." Freida smiled.

"Thanks Jo."


	6. Chapter 6: Shell-Shocked

Chapter 6

Shell-Shocked

"Okay, we're free, now what do we do?" asked Lizzie.

"Now we stop Suzuki before he can initiate his plan," said Leo.

"But we don't even know what his plan is," said Don, "And even if we did, we wouldn't know how to stop him."

"He's going to put a pulse device in every criminal in New York," said Freida, "He told me."

"Why would he do that?"

"If he controls the criminal element, he controls the city."

"No. I mean why would he tell you what his plan was?"

"Oh. He likes to monolog."

"How does he plan to pull off a stunt like that?" asked Cleo.

"Trust me, he'll find a way."

"I'll bet he's got some sort of big gun that he uses to shoot 'em off," said Mikey.

"Well whatever he's doing, let's go get him before he does it," said Raph. So they headed over to the elevator, pressed the down button, and crowded in.

Down on the bottom floor, Suzuki had ordered some of his ninjas to guard the elevator door, in case the turtles did escape. When the ninjas heard the elevator coming down, they drew their weapons and prepared to attack. The doors opened and the ninjas hurtled into the elevator, yelling fiercely. But their yells turned into cries of confusion, because the elevator was empty. The ninjas looked around, bewildered. Their temporary lapse in concentration was the perfect opportunity for the turtles and Splinter to slip out of the opening in the ceiling of the elevator. Once they were out, Mikey pressed the up button, making the doors close. He laughed at the ninjas' reactions as the doors slid shut behind them.

"Have a nice ride!" he called.

The group ran down the hall, boys on the right, girls on the left.

"Does anyone have any idea where Suzuki is planning to shoot these pulse things off?" asked Mikey.

"Not really," answered Leo.

"Just look for the door that's the most heavily guarded!" Freida called form the back. "Suzuki always tries to prevent intrusion."

"Well, let's make sure he can't prevent us from coming in!" said Joan.

"You sure you're going to be okay to fight, Freida?" asked Cleo.

"Are you kidding?" said Freida. "I feel like I could take on an out of control armored car!" They rounded a corner, and came face to face with about ninety ninjas poised outside the largest door in the base, located at the end of a large square space at the end of the hallway. The turtles paused for a moment; a little taken aback by the number of guards Suzuki thought was necessary. Then they all cracked identical evil grins.

"Ten each? Best deal I've seen in a long time!" said Raph, drawing his sais daggers.

"Point and click, boys and girls," said Freida, cracking her knuckles loudly. She didn't take out her fans. The turtles drew their weapons, and Splinter clutched his walking staff.

The large space rang with yells and cries and the sounds of fighting. Each warrior squared off with ten ninjas, once in while helping each other out if they were in any danger.

(The descriptions of the following fights happened at the same exact time.)

Leo threw himself backward to avoid a swing from one ninja's broadsword. He fell onto his back and stabbed out to the sides with his two katanas, nicking two ninjas in the ankles. They cried out and stumbled, clutching at their Achilles' tendons. Leo rolled back to his feet in time to block a backhand punch from some one on his left. He kicked the guy in the ribs, then spun around and brought the hilt of his left sword around to connect with the ninja's head. Now three more ninjas armed with nunchucks came at him from behind. Leo jumped up and spun in mid-air, kicking out to the sides with both feet. The ninjas buckled and fell. Leo landed, and someone wrapped their arms around him and lifted him up off the ground. Leo fought the instinctual urge to writhe and struggle under the ninja's bone crushing arms. Instead, he thrust his arms upward and brought his swords up under the ninja's jaw. The ninja gasped and released Leo, who in turn jumped and kicked the guy in the temple. He fell backwards and landed on top of one of his comrades. Another ninja swung at Leo with a bo staff, but as he leaned out of the way of the strike, the ninja with the broadsword slashed at him from behind. Leo gasped as the blade stuck in his shell. The ninja laughed triumphantly. Leo turned his face to stare at his quarry, one brow line raised.

"Dude, I'm a turtle," he said. The ninja made a noise of astonishment as Leo wrenched his shell free of the blade, just as the other swung his bo staff around for another attack. Leo gabbed the staff and hurled both it and its wielder into the ninja armed with the broadsword. The two of them landed in a heap on the floor.

Mikey yelled as someone tripped him, making him fall flat on his face. A ninja picked him up by the shell and threw him into the wall. He grasped Mikey in a choke hold, and whipped out a crooked dagger. Mikey gasped and seized the ninja's wrist as he plunged the dagger towards his face. Mikey's wrist and arm shook with the effort of keeping the dagger from stabbing him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Raph deliver a hard punch to a ninja in front of him. Mikey cried out, his voice tight and squeaky from strain.

"Hey Raph! I could use a little help over here!" Raph glanced over to see his little brother pinned to a wall, a dagger gleaming inches from his eye. He let out a furious roar, charged over, and football tackled the ninja holding Mikey. The ninja cried out as he felt several of his ribs broke, and he collapsed, moaning onto the floor.

"Thanks dude!" called Mikey. Raph gave a quick jerk of his hand before heading returning to fight with his own opponents. Mikey turned back to his nine remaining ninjas with an evil grin face on his face. He twirled both pairs of nunchucks in a series of complicated cycles and rotations around his fingers. Then he gripped them tightly and bent down in a hunter's couch, one fist on the floor, one tucked to his side. "Well, who's feeling lucky tonight?" he asked mischievously. The ninjas exchanged slightly confused glances, then shrugged and ran at the young turtle. Mikey darted forward. He struck the ninja in front of him directly in the solar plexus with the side of his right pair of nunchucks, then he quickly turned and jabbed the ninja on his left in the mouth with his left fist. He pivoted on the spot and jabbed another ninja in the gut with the ends of both pairs of nunchucks. Mikey spun quickly to the right and kicked yet another ninja in the face with the instep of his left foot (the ninja was facing Mikey from the side). One ninja whacked Mikey on the shoulder and neck with a short club-like stick. Mikey winced, and then turned, jumped, and kicked the ninja twice: first in nose with a front kick, then he threw his foot up above the ninja's head, and brought his heel down, hard, on the soft spot in the middle of the crown. Mikey landed on his feet, while the ninja landed on his back. Mikey then back flipped out of the way of the four remaining ninjas. He beckoned to them tauntingly in a "Come get some" gesture. The ninjas raised their swords and charged. Mikey swung his nunchucks around and knocked three of the ninjas' weapons out of their hands, before nailing them with a couple of whirling nunchuck strikes. The last ninja standing actually leaped on top of Mikey and jammed his sword up under his chin. Mikey threw himself backwards into the wall. The combined force of the wall and his shell dislodged his unwelcome passenger most effectively.

Don pole-vaulted across the room to get out of the range of a flying dagger. He landed next to a section of the wall, and ducked to avoid the dagger. It stuck into the wall with a loud thud! The ninja who had thrown the dagger came sprinting across the room after his enemy. Don counted a couple of seconds, and then thrust the end of his bo staff into the path of the oncoming ninja, who collided with it with a sickening crack! Don winced as he heard the sound of the ninja's nose breaking clean in half.

"If you weren't trying to kill me, I'd say I was sorry," he said apprehensively. Don regained his focus just in time to prevent the blade of someone's katana from sinking into his skull. Don grunted as he kicked the ninja in the chest, then hit him on the side of the head with his staff. More ninja's came on, and Don created a circle around him as he swung his bo staff around. The one advantage he possessed that his brothers didn't was his range of attack. The ninjas could see this, and none of them wanted to get too close. Don twirled his staff around like a windmill, then brought it down to rest behind his back. He bent his knees and put his free hand out in a classic martial arts fighting stance.

"Step right up gentlemen," said Don. The ninjas circled him like jackals circling a zebra. One of them lunged at Don from behind, armed with a three-pronged spear. Don ducked and knocked the guy's feet out from underneath him with his staff. The seven remaining ninjas all possessed weapons that ended with something sharp, so they decided to rush Don with their blades facing him. It was a good idea, but it didn't work. Don knocked all seven weapons out of the hands of their owners, and then flipped over the ninjas. He backed up a little ways so he could get a running start for his next move. In one swift motion, Don ran up, flipped his bo staff around so that one end was on the ground and the other was in his hands, jumped, turned, and swung his legs sideways so that they connected with all seven heads on all seven ninjas. Don spun around and landed with his back turned to his opponents before they'd even hit the ground.

The one thing all his enemies know about Raph is that he's not someone to mess around with. If any Foot ninja were up against Raph, they'd know from experience to always think before attacking him. Suzuki's ninjas, however, had never fought Raph outright before, so they were totally unprepared for the hellish fury of his hot temper. See, the more enemies he defeats, the angrier Raph gets, so with ten opponents to defeat, to him, it was like a feeding frenzy.

Raph dropped to his knees as a ninja came at him armed with a small ax. He jabbed at the guy's knee with the hilt of his sai, then thrust himself upward and nailed the ninja with an upper cut. Someone whacked him from behind with a pair of nunchucks. Raph hit him with a back-hand punch, and spun around and brought the heel of his right foot into the side of the ninja's jaw line. Another ninja grabbed him under the arms and behind the head, while a second ninja triple punched him in the sternum. Raph gasped, and then bought his arms down while simultaneously throwing his head backwards into the mouth of the ninja holding him. The ninja dropped the turtle, only to be kicked backwards into the wall. Raph hit the ninja who had punched him with a few spinning kicks. The ninja swiped at Raph with his katana, who caught the blade between the prongs of his right-hand sai. They struggled there for a moment, but then Raph twisted his sai daggers sideways, snapping the katana in half. He then jumped up and front kicked the ninja across the room. Raph breathed heavily, the rush of the fight flowing through his veins. Someone came at him from the side, and Raph turned just in time to block a stab from a ninja's broadsword. Raph jumped back, and began to spar with the ninja. He blocked a stab from the sword, slashed from opposite sides with his sais, ducked to avoid a sideways slash, and finally, brought his right sai up under the ninja's wrist, so that his hands were trapped by the three-pronged weapon. Raph stood up and flipped the ninja over his head, were he came to rest a few feet away. The four remaining ninjas surrounded Raph, eyeing him with both anger and fear, and with good reason: Raph was breathing hard and loud, his teeth were bared, and there was fire in his eyes.

"What's the matter?" he growled, twirling his sais intricately between his fingers, and stepping into a fighting stance. "You ain't scared of a turtle, are ya?" The ninja's hesitated, which was all Raph needed. He tossed his sais up in the air, caught them with the blades facing down, stuck out one arm, and, moving so fast he was a green blur, he struck one ninja, then another, then another, and then the last one. It happened so fast that they all fell at the exact same time.

If you want an accurate picture of Splinter fighting his ten opponents, think about a fight scene in a martial arts movie and you should get the idea. Despite his old age, the rat still retained all the skill and power he'd learned in his youth. He stood in the center of a ring of the ten ninjas. Two of them attacked at once. Crack! Bam! They were down so fast that none of their fellows caught what had happened. Three more attacked from the front, back, and side. Splinter back-hand punched the one coming from behind, then pivoted and sideways kicked the ninja coming from the side, and "stabbed" the ninja coming from the front with his staff. The rest of ninja's came forward in a surge, and were met with a flurry of spinning kicks, punches, sideways kicks, backwards kicks, and strikes from Splinter's staff. If you had been standing outside of the circle, you would have seen the ninjas move forward, and then fall backward.

The girls' fighting techniques had a little more flair, and took less time to take their enemies down. After they landed a few good hits and kicks on her, Joan's opponents fell to her "Domino Effect" combination. She fought to work the ten ninjas into a line with a series of strikes from her spear. Then she jumped and kicked the first one in the chest with while simultaneously hitting him in the forehead with the bottom of the spear shaft. The force of the blow caused the ninja to fall backward into the guy behind him, the back of his head hitting the other guy's forehead. This knocked all ten of Joan's opponents into an unconscious heap on the floor. Cleo had to spar with a couple of sword-slinging ninjas, receiving a couple of dents to her sabers in the process, before she could initiate her "Double Talon Strike" She executed this move by allowing the ninjas to back her into a corner. She then vaulted off the wall at an angle, tilting her sabers to that the flat of the blades were forward. The vault launched Cleo in a semicircle, the flat of her blades knocking the ninjas out within a time frame of 20 seconds. Lizzie and Freida teamed up to execute the "Whirlpool Break Dance" move. Lizzie hooked her arms around Freida's ankles and held on as Freida spun around and around, using her hands to turn the two of them in a circle (like professional break dancers do). Once they were going fast enough, Freida tucked her hands to her sides, flipped over and spun on her shell. Lizzie's legs whacked the twenty ninjas that surrounded them. Then Lizzie let go, and was slingshot around the circle, knocking the ninjas over completely. Freida rolled to her feet and jump front kicked a still-standing ninja in the jaw. Lizzie and Freida slapped each other a double hi-three and bumped fists.

"Stick it!" they said in unison.

Once all of the ninjas were unconscious on the floor, the group ran over to the giant door that the ninjas had been guarding. Unfortunately, it didn't open from the outside.

"Dangit!" shouted Freida, pounding on the door. "How're we supposed to get in?"

"Everyone stand back please!" said Don. He stuck a disk-shaped detonator on the door, and then pressed three buttons on it. The turtles stood back, covering their heads. After a couple of seconds, the detonator exploded, blowing the door open. The nine of them ran inside.

The room they entered was bigger than any other room in the base. It had a high domed ceiling and a movie screen-sized window looking out on the bay. There was nothing in the room except for a twelve-foot-tall cannon-like device standing in the middle. Yoshihiro Suzuki was standing beneath the machine, loading a canister filled with small square chips into a slot in the machine's hull. At the sound of the door being blown open, he looked up.

"Ah," said Suzuki, pushing the canister into the slot. "Yes, I thought the nine of you might do something drastic. Such a shame, all of your efforts are for naught. At least you all have a chance to see the fireworks."

Leo stepped forward.

"If you think that we're just going to sit here and let you get away with this, you're sadly mistaken."

"Am I?" asked Suzuki, smiling. "I don't think that any of you quite understand the situation that you have just walked into." He typed something on a keyboard on the machine. The cannon pointed at window. "You see," he said, looking up again, "I hold all the cards here."

"Oh, I didn't realized we were playing poker," growled Raph sarcastically.

"Listen here, Bub," said Freida, stepping in front of Leo. "I've had enough of you. Either you get this device the heck out of me, or I'm gonna drop kick you all the way to Alcatraz!" Behind her, Raph grinned.

I love it when women stand up for themselves, he thought.

Freida started to march towards her enemy, daggers in her eyes.

"No you don't." Suzuki pulled out the pulse button and pressed it. Once again he held it down. Freida stopped dead in her tracks. She clutched her chest as she felt that horrible electricity shock her insides over and over again. She fell over, writhing in agony.

"Freida!" The turtles ran over to her, but they couldn't get close enough to help because her spasms were erratic and violent.

"Stop it!" cried Lizzie. Suzuki let go of the button, smirking. Freida fell limp, gasping. Now the turtles rushed over to her. Cleo knelt down next to Freida and slung one of her arms around her shoulders. She gently pulled Freida to her feet.

"You…are so…dead!" gasped Freida. Suzuki laughed softly.

Don cast his gaze downward, trying to think of what to do. His eyes fell on Freida's shell, where they caught on something that made him do a double take. There was a small blinking light half hidden beneath her belt. Don, as casually as he could, slipped his two fingers and thumb under the belt. His fingertips brushed something cold and hard. He pinched it and gently wiggled it, seeing if he could dislodge it. It was attached to Freida's shell fairly tightly, but he was able to pop it off. Don gently lifted the thing out from under her belt. It was a microchip with tiny hooks around the edges. He turned it over and saw an inch-long needle protruding from the middle of the chip.

This is the electric pulse device? thought Don.

"Now, if you all could just stay put, I've got some work to do," said Suzuki, turning back to the machine. Freida took her arm off of Cleo shoulders. She swayed a bit, but was able to keep her balance. She took a couple of steps forward.

"Are you afraid to fight us?" she asked savagely. Suzuki sniggered.

"Afraid! Of you? Ridiculous!"

"Well why not?" asked Raph, "You don't seem to have the guts to fight us out right."

"Yeah!" Mikey joined in. "What are you? Chicken?"

"Don't test me, boy," warned Suzuki. He raised the button. Freida closed her eyes and braced herself for the torture. But when Suzuki pressed the button, nothing happened to her. Don, still holding the electric pulse device, gasped as a little spark of electricity lit up the inch-long needle protruding from the chip. Suzuki pressed the button again, but still, nothing happened. The color drained from his face.

"What?" gasped Suzuki, his eyes wide with shock. Freida opened her eyes.

"It's not shocking me," she said in astonishment. The astonishment suddenly turned to glee. Freida let out a bark of laughter. "Ha! It's not shocking me!" She gave a little skip.

"How?" asked Cleo.

"It's not possible!" said Suzuki. "How could you…?"

"Looking for this?" asked Don, holding up the chip and smiling broadly. The turtles laughed, and Splinter grinned.

"Oh no," said Suzuki.

"Oh yes!" said Freida. The turtles lined up and drew their weapons. This time Freida did take out her fans. She could already feel her strength returning; her aches were growing fainter, her head was growing clearer, and her breathing eased. "Don," she said, "I love you, but not in that way." Don and the others laughed. Cleo actually let out a sigh of relief. Freida kept her eyes locked on Suzuki, her face cracked in an evil grin. "This is the end of the line for you, Yoshihiro."

All of the sudden, Suzuki started to laugh. This was a cold, mirthless laugh. It was one of those "I've-Got-Something-Else-Hidden-Up-My-Sleeve" laughs. Splinter's eyes narrowed, but the turtles looked at each other, confused.

"Uh, why is he laughing?" asked Mikey.

"Hey!" called Lizzie, "What's so funny?"

"You naïve freaks!" Suzuki laughed hysterically, "You actually think that I am going to waste my time fighting you? Ha! I'm not unintelligent! I know that I cannot stand up to you all at once! I cannot fight you if you are united!"

"You're darn right you can't!" said Raph.

"But you know what they say," said Suzuki. He typed in a different combination on the keyboard of the machine. It turned around and pointed at the group. Then it changed. The cannon's body parts opened up, morphed, and rearranged themselves to be replaced by what looked like the body of a ray gun.

"If the field doesn't suit you, change the game!" Suzuki pulled a lever on the machine's hull. The ray fired a beam of bright green light at the eight turtles. Miraculously, Splinter was not hit.

Pain erupted from every pore of their bodies. The turtles writhed and shrieked with agony. They fell to the floor, twisting and turning. It looked like they were having epileptic seizures, while simultaneously being tortured. They themselves couldn't control what their bodies did; the twitching was done of its own accord. The turtles couldn't see, couldn't hear, and couldn't think. All they knew and felt was this terrible pain. But, at the same time, they felt that they were changing. They felt their heads, feet, and hands shrink. Their arms, legs, and torsos became thinner…

Leo opened his eyes a fraction. He saw the shapes of his brothers twitching and screaming around him, and he heard the shrieks of the girls behind him. He wanted to help them, but he couldn't move; the pain was too intense. Leo closed his eyes again. He wanted it to end. He felt something slip off of his face. His mask? He didn't know. After what seemed like hours, the pain finally stopped, and the turtles lost consciousness.


	7. Chapter 7: Metamorphosis

Chapter 7

Metamorphosis

"Are they going to be alright?"

"They've been out for hours."

"This is unbelievable!"

Leo was the first to come around. He heard the voices above his head. There were three: Splinter, April, and Casey.

Where am I? Leo's eyes flickered open. It took a while for him to gain focus on the shapes of the people above him, but eventually, April's and short red hair, and Casey's long blue-black hair swam into view. He moaned.

"Leo!" Someone pulled him up into a sitting position. Leo blinked a couple times. April was kneeling beside him, her bright green eyes and kind, thin face gleaming with relief. Casey and Splinter were standing above him. He found himself sitting on the floor of the lair, on top of a blanket that had been laid down behind the couch.

"Wh…What happened?" asked Leo. His head hurt really badly, and it itched pretty badly too. He looked blearily up at the three of them, seeing nervous glances flit from one face to another. Casey put his hand on the back of his head. His angular face, rimmed with a barely noticeable five-o'clock shadow, had a pained grimace drawn upon it, making his round brown eyes narrow up with embarrassment.

"Well…" he began, but he seemed to be having a hard time finding the right words to describe the situation.

"What?" Leo asked again. He slowly got to his feet, feeling unusually light. His eyes darted from one nervous face to another. "What?" he asked a third time.

"Leonardo." Leo turned to Splinter, who was looking at him with melancholy eyes.

"Master?"

"My son, you, your brothers, and the girls have gone through a bit of a change. It might have been a little too traumatic for you, but you have to remain calm…"

"What do you mean?" asked Leo, raising his hands up with palms facing upward and extended outward in a "Give-Me-An-Answer" gesture. "What ch…?" He froze. He looked down at his hands. Those weren't his hands! Those were…

"HOLY COW!" yelled Leo. He ran over to a mirror that hung on the wall outside of the weight room. Leo screamed. That was not his face! Instead of seeing the face of a teenage mutant ninja turtle staring back at him, Leo saw thin the face of a teenage human boy! His skin was pale, he had eyebrows, and he had hair! His nose was now pointy and had nostrils! His ears were noticeable. His new hair was brown, wavy, and thick. His mouth was small, and now he had lips! His teeth weren't flat and even any more: the two front teeth were bigger than the others, and he actually had pointed canine teeth. Leo noticed that his blue mask was gone, along with his elbow pads, knee pads, wrist bands, belt, katanas, katana scabbards, and, most importantly, HIS SHELL! His feet and hands were now human sized, complete with five digits on each hand and foot. Leo also noticed that he was actually wearing clothes! A large blue T-shirt was hanging off of his shoulders, and a pair of worn out jeans were covering his lower half. Leo touched his face. The skin felt softer, and a tiny bit smoother. He became very aware of how exposed his back and torso were now. The only things that were the same were his calf brown eyes.

"I'm…I'm…" he stuttered. Leo spun around, and screamed again. April, Casey, and Splinter were standing amongst a group of unconscious teenage boys and girls, undoubtedly his brothers and the girls turned into humans. It became evident that April and Casey had lent them some of their clothes to wear, because none of the garments that now covered their human bodies fit properly. At first, Leo couldn't tell who was who, but luckily they were wearing shirts that matched the colors of their masks. The boy who was Mikey was the next to stir. He was wearing an orange T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, and a pair of denim surf shorts. Unlike Leo, Don, and Raph, Mikey was blonde. He looked so much like a surfer dude it wasn't even funny, with his neck-length, long banged, bleach colored hair. When he opened his eyes, Leo could see that they were still bright blue. Mikey sat up from where he'd been lying on the couch.

"Oh…my head," he groaned. He put a hand up to his head, felt his new hair, looked at his hand, and screamed. Mikey's scream woke everyone else up. They took on look at themselves and each other, and then all of them started screaming until they ran out of air.

"What the heck is going on?!" cried Freida, clutching at her new elbow-length black hair, "This is so wrong!"

Cleo, whose thick brunette hair dangled just below her new ears, was moving her hands up and down her new body, a look of utter horror on her pale face. She shrieked when she reached her chest.

"What are…? Are these…? Mammary glands?"

Lizzie was hugging herself, her shoulder-length golden blonde hair falling into her eyes.

"I feel so exposed!" she wailed, rocking back and forth.

Raph was feeling his arms, his eyes unnaturally wide.

"I…I think I've lost muscle mass," he choked. His hair was a very dark brown, short, and spiky.

"Hey, guys," said Leo, walking over to them.

"Leo?" asked Don, pushing his new flat brown hair out of his eyes. He squinted. Leo was only on the other side of the lair, and yet Don had a hard time focusing on him.

"I think we have a problem guys," said Leo, sitting down in an armchair. He fell kind of hard on the seat, forgetting that he didn't have a shell anymore.

"Ya think?" asked Raph.

"I just can't believe it!" said Don, "We've actually been turned into humans!"

"But we're not humans!" whined Mikey, "We're turtles!" Cleo snorted.

"Does this," she held up a hand, "look turtle-like to you?"

"I've got to run some tests on this," said Don, more to himself than to the others. Raph rolled his eyes.

"How'd we get back here anyway?" he asked. Splinter, April and Casey stepped forward. Splinter was the one to speak.

"When the eight of you lost consciousness, Yoshihiro Suzuki and his ninjas disappeared, along with the pulse cannon. I found a phone system and contacted April and Casey. They rented a speedboat and drove out to Liberty Island. We then brought you all back here."

"You guys were out for almost two hours," said April, "We thought you wouldn't make it."

"Thanks for letting us borrow your clothes," said Joan appreciatively, "I suppose we weren't in a very good state when you picked us up."

"It wasn't a problem; Casey just had to cover his eyes when we were loading you all up in the speedboat."

Two hours later, Don had completed a series of tests devised to see just how bad the situation was. Mikey winced as he flexed his arm. Don had decided to use him for blood work, but Don's new hands were hard to get used to. Poor Mikey had had to endure a couple of extra sticks. Don meanwhile had to resort to telling April what to type in for him on the computer, because he just couldn't figure out how to type with four extra fingers.

"So what's the verdict, Donny?" asked Leo.

"Well," said Don, "it's unbelievable, but it seems that the ray mutated our DNA even further than the ooze did." He was talking while looking over the data. "It happened almost too rapidly to be true, but our DNA has been completely altered. I mean, from reptile to mammal? It's extraordinary!"

"Yeah," drawled Raph, rolling his eyes, "It is soooo exciting!"

"I mean, we're completely human now! Human skeletal structures, human muscles, human organ systems, the list is endless!" said Don.

"How'd it mutate us, exactly?" asked Cleo.

"Well, my best guess is that that ray gun shot us with and extremely high amount of Gamma radiation," answered Don. "Since you can never really tell what kind of mutations Gamma rays can cause, Suzuki must have just planned on making us weak or vulnerable; being turned into humans is probably more than he could have hoped for. Quite frankly, I'm amazed that the radiation didn't kill us."

"Like this is any better," whispered Lizzie.

"But, as you guys may have noticed, there are a few drawbacks," said Don.

"A few?" asked Mikey.

"Yes. Let's see. Well, for one thing, we're not as…er…as muscular as we normally are."

"Say what?" asked Mikey, "You mean we're not buff anymore?" He sounded horrified.

"We're still fit!" said Don quickly, "But we're just not as strong we used to be."

Raph groaned loudly.

"Also," continued Don, "our eyesight isn't as sharp as it was. We most likely have all become either far or nearsighted. There is a good thing, however."

"A good thing?" asked Freida skeptically.

"Yeah. Now that we're not cold-blooded anymore, we're not as sensitive to temperature change."

"Wait," Raph interrupted. "Since when has temperature change ever bothered us?"

"Well, we've never really encountered real temperature change, since we always keep the lair heated to a stable temperature," explained Don. "And we've been going out at night since we were kids, so we're used to the night air. Besides, we never go out if it's too cold, or if it's snowing or raining really hard, so we've never experience what happens to us when we're exposed to extreme cold. Not to mention the fact that we never go out during the day, so we don't know what would happen to us if we were exposed to natural heat from the sun."

"Back home in Montana," said Cleo, "We get extreme summers and extreme winters, so we know what happens to us in either kinds of temperature."

"What happens?" asked Leo.

"In the winter time, we get really sluggish and lethargic. We can't train at all and we can't go outside for fear of collapsing and freezing up. Half the time we have to stay in our rooms and snuggle up by the space heaters," explained Cleo. "And then in the summer time, we're get super hyperactive and strong. We can run halfway up a mountain and back without getting tired. It's like we've got pure adrenaline pumping through our veins."

"So how come you haven't been effected by the temperature here at night?" asked Mikey.

"I guess it's because New York isn't as cold as Montana."

"So, back to the drawbacks," said Don, checking one more piece of data, "We're not going to be able to take a hit as easily, so no fighting."

"How long are we gonna be like this?" asked Raph. "It ain't permanent, is it?"

"Well, I think I could change us back, but it's definitely going to take some time," replied Don. Everyone groaned. "I'll do my best! Until then, we'll just have to learn to deal." There was an even louder groan.

"Uh oh," said Lizzie.

"What?" asked Joan, still itching her hair.

"I gotta go."

"Go where?" asked Mikey.

"You know, go!" Lizzie crossed her legs.

"Oh!" said Joan, alarmed. They all looked at each other, at a loss.

"Here," said April, "I'll help you." She took Lizzie by the hand and led her over to the guest's bathroom.

"Okay, do we really have to wear all this stuff?" asked Freida, tugging at her two sizes too large black T-shirt. It had the words "Fall Out Boy" printed on it in white.

"Yes, as a matter of fact you do," said Casey. "Humans have to cover themselves. You can't just walk around naked."

"Why not?" asked Mikey, "We do it all the time."

"And just what is this for?" asked Cleo, looking down her green long-sleeved shirt. Casey blushed.

"It…uh…supports your new chest," he said delicately. "Only girls wear them."

" Supports?" repeated Freida, "I feel like a trussed-up Thanksgiving turkey!"

"You know guys," said Leo, comprehension dawning on his face, "now that we're humans, we can go out in public during the day." The boys' faces lit up in excitement, and the girls giggled.

"You guys do look like you could use a little sun," admitted Casey. "I'll tell you what. We'll take you out for lunch, then I'll show you guys around, and April can take the girls out."

"That sounds good," said Leo.

"Yeah!" said Mikey. Raph and Don nodded enthusiastically. The girls gave a three-way nod. Splinter however was doubtful.

"Are you sure it's safe for them?" he asked. The boys laughed.

"Come on! We can take care of ourselves," said Raph.

"We've been around the city a million times!" said Mikey.

"You can trust us, Master," said Leo. Splinter hesitated, but the look of pleading on each of their faces won him over.

"Very well then," he said, "But be back before dark." The boys and girls cheered. Just then, they heard the sound of a toilet flushing. April walked out of the bathroom, followed by a terrified Lizzie.

"That," she said quietly, "will haunt me for the rest of my life."

After getting introduced to shoes and socks for the first time (a painful experience that involved a lot of screaming and an accidental fat lip), the group of eight teenagers and their two chaperones made their way through the sewers to find a manhole they could exit through. Mikey showed them the manhole inside the garage he used to park his van. The garage was hidden behind a removable section of an alley wall camouflaged with graffiti. When they first stepped out of the alleyway and into the sun, the boys had to cover their eyes; they weren't used to going out at high noon!

The sight of eight pasty-faced, grubby-looking teenagers wearing clothes that were too big for them and reeking of sewer pipes drew quite a lot of attention from passers-by, especially from other teenagers. The eight of them weren't used to walking on the sidewalk, so they were startled when people shouted at them to clear a pathway as they walked shoulder to shoulder along the narrow pavement. They grudgingly gave in and resorted to walking in two single-file lines. When they eight of them plus April and Casey entered the door of a Domino's restaurant, people near them wrinkled their noses and moved towards the bathrooms. As they sat down at a booth near the back of the restaurant, they drew scathing looks from a table full of high school cheerleaders and their football-playing boyfriends. April went up to order and Casey went to the restroom, so the boys and girls were left to feel the wrath of the condescending gazes from the high schoolers' booth across from them. They heard the cheerleaders whispering about the clothing choices and the lack of makeup, and they heard the jocks whispering about the grunginess and the sewer smell.

When their pizzas were ready and at the table, the former turtles had a hard time figuring out how to bite their food now that their mouths were at less than half their normal width. At the sight of the eight of them trying to ease the food into their mouths, the high schoolers sniggered loudly. Raph broke the plastic fork he was holding, which seemed to entertain the high schoolers even more.

"Easy Raph," cautioned Leo, "We don't want to attract attention."

"It's a little too late for that one Leo," said Mikey, nodding at the other table. Freida glared down at her plate.

"Jerk-offs," she muttered.

"Sure wish we get them to shut the heck up," said Raph.

"I've got this one guys," said Lizzie. She got up and walked over to the high schoolers' table. They stopped laughing as they saw her approach. "Hey," she greeted casually. The jocks and the cheerleaders looked at each other, confused.

"Um, hi?" said one of the cheerleaders, a brunette girl who had overdosed on the makeup. Lizzie grinned.

"D'you think I could borrow your guys' cheese?" she asked, pointing to the Parmesan shaker.

"Er, yeah." The brunette handed Lizzie the shaker, then drew her hand back as if she had been burned.

"Thanks." Lizzie started to walk away, but then a redhead cheerleader asked her friends, in a loud whisper,

"Why does she smell like a sewer pipe?" Lizzie stopped. She smirked triumphantly at the others, and then turned around.

"Sorry?" asked Lizzie. The redhead looked up.

"Nothing," she said pompously.

"No no," said Lizzie, hitching a look of angry confusion on her face, "you said I smell like a sewer pipe." The redhead paused for a moment, surprised that Lizzie had heard what she had uttered.

"Well, you do," she said at last.

"Do what?"

"You do smell like a sewer pipe. I mean you really reek!" The other high schoolers murmured in agreement, and then they started to laugh.

"Yeah!" said a blonde cheerleader, her tone sneering. "What's the matter? Don't believe in soap?" The jocks laughed stupidly. Lizzie laughed too.

"Wow!" she said cheerfully, "You guys are shallower than a day-old rain puddle, aren't you?" The high schoolers ceased their sniggering, while the former turtles burst into hysterical laughter.

"Come again?" asked one of the jocks, a curly haired blonde boy.

"And it looks like you're not that smart either!" said Lizzie. The jocks and the cheerleaders looked at each other incredulously. The turtles roared with laughter. Lizzie snapped her fingers and walked back to the booth, squeezing in next to Mikey.

"Nice one Liz!" said Mikey, slapping her hi-five.

"Well, you dorks are stinking up the restaurant!" called the blonde cheerleader. Her friends laughed again. Raph did a loud fake sneeze. The high schoolers stared at him. He sniffed.

"Sorry," he said, "I'm allergic to jerk-offs." The boys and girls broke out laughing again. Giggling, they finished their pizzas, paid the bill, and then followed a chuckling April and Casey out the door. Mikey quickly poked his head back into the restaurant. The high schoolers looked back at him.

"Cowabunga dudes!" he called, and slammed the door behind hi


	8. Chapter 8: Humanificiation Breakdown

Chapter 8

Humanification Breakdown

April decided to take the girls shopping at the downtown mall, much to Freida's displeasure, so Casey and the boys went to hang out a skate park down near the Brooklyn Bridge. The skate park was about the size of a football field, crammed to the bursting point with skateboard ramps, tunnels, bowls, stairs, and railing. Tons of daredevil teenagers flew across the great expanse of wood and steel, their cries of joy ringing through the air. Of course, Mikey insisted on renting a skateboard and gear. However, he was very reluctant to put a helmet on.

"Do I really have to?" he whined. "I mean, when have I ever crashed?"

"I don't know!" said Casey, trying desperately to keep from shouting.

"Just put the helmet on, Mikey!" said Leo.

"You have to," said Don, "You might be more susceptible to serious injury now that you're…human!" He whispered the last word.

"Fine!" Mikey took the helmet and jammed it onto his head, only to yank it off again with a yelp of discomfort.

"What?" asked Casey.

"That feels so weird!" said Mikey. He rubbed the top of his head, grimacing. Raph let out a groan of exasperation.

"Gimme that!" he said grabbing the helmet. Gritting his teeth, Raph crammed the helmet onto Mikey's head, ignoring his little brother's cries of protest, and buckled the strap before Mikey could yank it off. "You either skate with this on," he said, slamming his hand into the side of the helmet, "or never again. Got it?"

"Got it." said Mikey.

"Good."

Mikey jumped onto his rental skateboard and shot away. It took him a moment to get used to the new terrain, but soon he was hollering with glee a he rocketed around the skate park. It was lucky that turning into a human hadn't diminished his agility or balance. In a string of movements so fluid and perfect that it looked as if they were a film reel that had been edited and cleaned up to perfection, Mikey skated right off of a high ramp, spun his board under his feet like the blades of a helicopter, front flipped twice, landed on top of a stair railing, slid down the length of the railing on the underside of his board towards a giant tunnel, thrust his board into the tunnel, jumped off of the railing, back flipped across the top of the tunnel while his board raced through it beneath him, jumped and landed on his board on the other side of the tunnel, raced up off the top of a vertical ramp, twisted his board in a circle beneath his feet, lifted his feet and performed a series of complicated ninjitsu moves, and finally landed in a one-handed handstand on the edge of a bowl. At the sight of this talented newcomer, all the skaters in the park stopped skating and now gawked at Mikey and his awesome moves. The dudes were staring in awe and admiration at his skills on the board, while the chicks were cheering and catcalling.

When Mikey finally stopped for a moment, the other skaters crowded around, complementing him on his moves. Casey, Leo, Don, and Raph were all chuckling at the attention Mikey was getting.

"I mean dude! You've got some skills!" said one of the skater boys.

"What's your name?" asked a skater chick.

"Mike," said Mikey, deciding to call himself by neither his full nor his nickname.

"Dude, how long have you been skating?" asked another skater boys.

"All my life!" said Mikey proudly.

"Wow." The group exchanged excited looks.

"What's you secret, man?"

"Um…uh…practice makes perfect?" Mikey ventured. The group of admirers murmured in agreement.

"Wow, you are so cool!" said the first skater chick, smiling and batting her eyelashes. Mikey raised his eyebrows.

"Thanks." He noticed that all of the skater chicks were moving towards the front of the group of admirers. Even though skater chicks don't usually act like girls, they like to pour on the charm if some cute guy with mad skills comes to skate the park. Considering these girls were all taller than him, Mikey felt a little intimidated.

But then again, he thought, I'll never get another opportunity like this! Mikey squared his shoulders and let his face slide into a contented smile. "Would you ladies like to get something to drink?" he asked, pointing at the snack bar. The girls all giggled and nodded. Mikey jumped on his skateboard and led the group of admiring girls over to the snack bar, showing off some more of his moves along the way. The skater boys kept on talking about how cool Mikey was.

Luckily, Mikey had some money left over from his days as a birthday party entertainer, so he was able to buy sodas for all eight of his girl admirers. His brothers watched as Mikey's ego seemed to swell the longer he talked with the skater girls. At first it was kind of funny, but then they saw that the girls were getting more and more interested in Mikey. If they didn't do something fast, he was going to end up with eight dates. They got up from the bench they had been sitting at and marched over to the snack bar. Casey was content to sit and watch.

Leo, Don, and Raph walked over to the table Mikey and his fan girls were sitting at. He was now talking about how much he worked out, while the girls watched him with dreamy eyes.

"I pretty much work out about three times a day," Mikey was saying, flexing his biceps to demonstrate his fitness.

"Hey, Mikey," said Leo, making his little brother jump.

"Oh! Hey there bro!" said Mikey. Don and Raph stood behind Leo. "I mean, bros!"

"Oh, are these you friends?" asked a strawberry blonde girl.

"We're his older brothers, actually," said Don.

"Do you guys skate?" asked a black haired girl, smiling flirtatiously up at Leo.

"Um, no," he replied.

"I think it's time for us to go now, Mikey," said Don.

"But…" Mikey tried to protest, but Raph grabbed him by his shirt collar and heaved him to his feet.

"Now," growled Raph.

"Okay," said Mikey quickly. The four of them went over to the rental booth and returned the gear and board. The fan girls followed them, offering Mikey their phone numbers, but Leo politely turned them down, insisting that they were not likely to see his brother again. Casey joined them and the five of them left the skate park.

Meanwhile, April and the girls strolled around the crowded downtown mall. The place's many bunched together stores, competitive food court, flashing neon ads, cheaply carved pillars, and tall rubber palm trees did little to impress the four girls. Freida lost interest almost instantly, Joan couldn't figure out why stores charged such high prices for clothes that didn't fit anybody, Cleo raised her new eyebrows at girls swooning over $400 high-heeled shoes, and Lizzie laughed at girls who were freaking out over jewelry that could easily strangle you if you didn't put it on right. April, not wanting the girls to be bummed out, gave them each some money to spend however they wanted, and told them to meet her at the mall's central fountain at 12 noon.

The girls decided to split up, so that they could find stores that suited their different interests. Joan found an elements shop that sold stuff like wind chimes, incense burners, meditation rugs, and smudge sticks. Cleo explored a Radio Shack that was having a sale on computers. Lizzie went straight to the arcade, where she dominated on Mortal Combat. Freida was bored out of her head, but she was able to find some interest in a comic book store.

Joan spent most of her time in the elements store, absorbed in the intricately carved statues of gold, crystal and pewter. She eventually ended up buying a set of four lavender candles. Cleo couldn't afford anything good at the Radio Shack, so she settled for a couple packs of basic circuitry. Freida bought a couple of English comics and some Japanese manga comics. The three of them met up with April at the mall's ornate marble fountain, which was carved in the image of a pair of angels. There they hung out, and waited for Lizzie.

Lizzie had lost track of time while in the arcade, so when she glanced at the clock she gave a little gasp and beat it out of there. She was walking towards the fountain area, carrying a stuffed crocodile under her arm, when she spotted something that made her heart jump up into her throat. In the middle of the mall walkway stood a tall, dark, stocky man, most likely of Russian decent. He wore a thick leather jacket over a close-cut gray sweat shirt, and heavy blue jeans. His narrow eyes darted around the area, searching for something. Lizzie ducked down behind a candy cart, her heart pounding furiously. She knew that man. He worked for Yoshihiro Suzuki, and he was a hit man.

So, thought Lizzie as she peeked around the cart to peer at the man, Suzuki's not satisfied with us being human. He wants us all dead! Lizzie took a deep breath and told herself to keep a cool head. Master Lin had always told them never to panic. Lizzie slowly walked out from behind the cart. She let her eyes scope the area. The man was standing in front of a Rave store, his hand in the right pocket of his jacket, where, Lizzie was sure, he clutched a dagger. Maybe he doesn't know what I look like, she thought. Putting the crocodile on a shelf of the cart, Lizzie started to walk as casually as she could towards the fountain area.

This task was easier said than done. Lizzie hadn't quite gotten the hang of walking like a human. Despite the fact that her skeletal structure wasn't too different, it was still difficult to walk normally, especially without the weight of her shell. She tried swinging her hips like other girls, but all she could accomplish was a swagger that made it look like she had metal gears jammed into her pelvic bone. The eyes of many a shopper were drawn to this little display, but Lizzie didn't care. She could sense that her awkward gait had attracted the man's attention, and she knew he was following her. She had to try and lose him, or else she'd lead him strait to her sisters and April. Lizzie turned into the front entrance to a Forever 21 store, and the man followed her in.

Lizzie crawled under a clothing rack, feeling ridiculous. She couldn't do this in public! It wasn't her style! But she knew she couldn't "fade away", as a ninja normally would, in broad daylight, especially not in Forever 21, which had bright lights blazing in from every direction. She chanced a peek at her surroundings, and saw that the man was now searching the clothing racks, pulling them apart with unnecessary force.

"Excuse me." Lizzie jumped. A store employee with braided red hair was staring down at her from between the clothes on the rack. "You're not allowed in there," she said.

"Oh!" said Lizzie. "I'm sorry." She crawled out from under the rack, but didn't stand up.

"Are you okay?" asked the employee; her tone wasn't of concern, but of apprehension.

"No," replied Lizzie quietly, "I'm trying to hide from the guy in the jacket."

"Whatever," said the lady. She walked away.

Lizzie chanced a peek above the racks. But her timing couldn't have been worse. The man was now looking straight at her! His black eyes locked her blue ones. He started to fast walk towards her, his hand coming out of his pocket. Lizzie saw the hilt of his dagger. He was getting closer. Lizzie couldn't think. His dagger was out.

Think Lizzie! Think! She reached into her yellow sweater pocket, silently cursing April and Casey for making them leave their weapons at the lair. Her hand brushed some smoke pellets…Of course! Lizzie whipped out her hand and threw the smoke pellets down. Instantly, a huge blast of sooty black smoke erupted from the detonated pellets. The man coughed and started stabbing the air inside the cloud, his eyes streaming. People were screaming and running out of the store. When the smoke finally cleared, Lizzie was nowhere in sight.

When the people outside of Forever 21 had seen the smoke they started running too, giving Lizzie the perfect cover. She was now sprinting towards the fountain area. She gave up trying to run like a human and started to run like a turtle: longer strides forming a sort of loping motion. Luckily her new human bones were able to adapt to this new stride, although the shoes weren't any help.

Lizzie looked over her shoulder. The man was now running after her. She had to find a different route. Lizzie turned a corner and climbed up a pillar that supported the walkway on the second story of the mall. She hung onto the edge of the railing and waited. The man turned the corner and looked around. He didn't see Lizzie clinging to the railing above him, so he continued on towards another part of the mall. Lizzie climbed back down, then ran over to another pillar, climbed it, and made her way climbing sideways along the edge of the railway towards the fountain area.

At the fountain, Joan, Freida, Cleo, and April were getting impatient. Lizzie was taking forever.

"Maybe we should go get her," suggested April, "You guys said that she'd be in the arcade, right?"

"Yeah," said Joan, "Maybe we should." But at that moment Lizzie dropped down from the second story railing.

"There you are!" said Cleo.

"Just what took you so long, Elizabeth?" asked Joan, her hands on her hips.

"We've got to get out of here now!" said Lizzie, "We're being followed!"

"What?"

"One of Suzuki's hit men was following me! I've only just shaken him."

"Oh great!" said Freida, "Just fabulous!"

"We've got to contact the guys!" said Cleo.

"April, do you have a cell phone?" asked Joan.

"Yeah." April took out her phone, "I'll call Casey." She dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Casey? It's April. Is Leo there?"

"Yeah, hold on." Casey handed the phone to Leo.

"Hello?" April handed the phone to Joan.

"Leo? It's Joan."

"What's up?"

"Where are you guys?"

"Central Park, why?"

"We're being followed. Suzuki's got a hit man tailing us here in the mall."

"What? Is everyone alright?"

"Everyone's fine!" said Joan quickly. "But listen, don't worry about us. You guys need to get back to the lair as quickly as possible. There might be people following you."

"But," started Leo, but Joan cut him off.

"We'll be fine! Just go. Stay away from deserted areas, and don't call us, because someone might be watching the…" But at that moment, a silver dart knocked the phone out of Joan's hand, and pinned it to the wall. Leo heard a yell and a crackling sound, and the line went dead.

"Hello? Hello? Joan?" called Leo, but there was no answer. He looked up.

"What?" asked Mikey, "Are the girls okay?"

"We've got to get to the mall!" said Leo.

"Why?" asked Casey, "What's…" But then Don yelled in surprise as four darts whizzed past his nose and stuck in a nearby tree. Everyone looked up. There were two ninjas sitting in one of the trees. They jumped down and ran into the bushes. The boys and Casey got into fighting stances and stood back-to-back, alert for any sign of movement. It was quiet for a minute, and then a dozen of Suzuki's ninjas appeared from different sides all sides. They were all wielding weapons, and all looked poised to kill.

"Who's brilliant idea was it for us to leave our weapons behind?" asked Raph angrily. The ninjas ran forward and the boys met them with battle cries. Being turned into humans hadn't diminished the turtle's skills, but it did make them a little slower, so they got hit a few more times than usual. Still, they managed to subdue their attackers after about three minutes of fighting. What the ninjas didn't know was that the boys' expert knowledge of katanas, bo staffs, nunchucks, and sais was their edge. Leo successfully disarmed and knocked out the ninjas with katanas using his "Dodge and Drive" maneuver, in which he'd dodge sideways and use his palm to jab the hilt of the sword backwards into the ninja's wrist or side, then bring his foot out and throwing the side of his foot inwards to the ninja's head. Don relieved the ninjas of their bo staffs, and their consciousness, using his "Windmill" move, which was executed by allowing a ninja to use a thrust attack, then grabbing the staff and side-flipping over the guy's head. This wrenched the staff out of the hands of the ninja, and into the side of his head. Mikey merely caught the nunchuck handles and pulled the ninja wielding the weapon into the path of his front kick. Raph could catch the blade of a sai between his hands, then cricked it backward so that the ninja's wrist either sprained or broke, and the sai was his to use as he pleased. Casey fought like your average well-muscled vigilante: firing one strike after another until everyone in front of him was on the ground.

After those three minutes worth of fighting, the ninjas were on the ground with their hands tied with their own belts, and their weapons in a tree. The boys had all been able to avoid serious injury, except for Don, who had received a bad blow to the head and was now being supported by Raph.

"Okay, I think we should get back to the lair now," said Leo, breathing heavily.

"I second that!" said Raph.

"Definitely!" said Mikey. Don just gave a feeble nod.

"But what about April and the girls?" asked Casey.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," said Leo, "Joan said that we need to get back a soon as possible." They all nodded and left the park.

During that period when the boys had been fighting, the girls had been doing some fighting of their own. Turned out the hit man hadn't come alone; he brought four back-up buddies with him. After he had pinned April's cell phone to the wall with a dart, the man and his back up finally decided to face them out in the open. Much like the boys, the girls regretted leaving their weapons back at the lair. Well, maybe not Freida.

The good thing was that the hit men had made the mistake of thinking that being turned into humans had made the girls less of a threat. Whoops! Wrong! Freida's hit man suffered wrath of her "Wheel of Torture", in which, after dodging a few stabs from his dagger, she kicked the guy in the knees, seized him around the waist and spun into a triple one-handed cartwheel, and then flung him on the ground. Lizzie and Cleo backed their hit men into each other, then jumped up, grabbed hands, and slammed their feet into the guys' faces. April and Joan teamed up: they ran, jumped forward with their right feet extended out sideways, and knocked the last two men into the fountain.

"Let's get the heck out of here!" shouted Joan, and the five of them left the mall without a backward glance


	9. Chapter 9: Turtles Again

Chapter 9

Turtles Again

"Okay, Donny. It looks like we have a need to turn back to normal as soon as possible," said Leo. They were all now back at the lair.

"Yes, I can see that," replied Don, who was holding an icepack to his head. "I think the only way for us to change back would be to reverse the effects of the ray, but I don't know how I'd be able to do that without making a duplicate of the ray itself."

"Not necessarily," said Cleo. Everyone looked at her. Her eyebrows were creased, and she was staring at her knuckles, which indicated that she was thinking very hard. "Don, you said that the ray used Gamma radiation to change us, right?"

"Right."

"What's the opposite of the Gamma ray?"

Don thought for a moment.

"Radio waves, I think."

"Yeah, that's right." Cleo got up from her chair and started pacing, one hand to her chin, the other behind her back.

"What're you thinking, Cleo?" asked Joan.

"I'm thinking…that we actually may be able to work this whole thing to our advantage," said Cleo, more to herself than to her sister. She paced back and forth in a little circle, muttering under her breath. The others (Splinter included) followed her procession with curious looks. April and Casey were especially interested; they still were having a hard time picturing the girls as turtles, and they found their behavior slightly intriguing. After a while, Cleo stopped in her pacing and snapped her fingers loudly.

"That's it!" she said excitedly.

"What's it?" asked Don. Cleo turned to face him.

"Radio waves!" she said triumphantly.

"What about them?"

"Radio waves are the opposite of Gamma rays!"

"So?"

"So, radio waves could be the very thing that can change us back!" Everyone stared at her. She was breathing fast and loud from excitement at her discovery. No one really understood how sound waves could change them back, but then Don gasped, stood up suddenly and snapped his fingers.

"She's right!" he said loudly. "Radio waves. If we can get our hands on some kind depleted version of a radioactive element, we can bombard it with extra concentrated radio waves."

"Right!" said Cleo enthusiastically. "The radio waves will cause the element to go through reverse nuclear decay…"

"And it will give off Gamma radiation!"

"Only in reverse!"

"Exactly!" Don and Cleo jumped up and down on the spot, their hands clasped, and their expressions ecstatic.

"Can somebody translate, please?" asked Lizzie. Don and Cleo let go of each other's hands and turned to face Lizzie, but didn't cease their excited hopping.

"If we stand in front of a…sheet covered in a layer of depleted…Tritium, and hit it with some hyper concentrated radio waves, the element will give off reverse-radiation," explained Cleo.

"So instead of being painful and turning us into humans, the rays will be harmless and mutate us back into turtles!" said Don.

"Are you serious?" asked Leo.

"Of course!" said Don.

"How exactly are you guys supposed to get your hands on a sheet of radioactive element?" asked April.

"Leave that to me," said Cleo. "Don, you concentrate on building us a machine that will fire the radio waves." She ran over to computer area. The eleven others heard her rummaging around in the mess that surrounded the shelf of technology, and when she came back, she was clutching a large black toolbox. "I'll be back in two days," she said unexpectedly. Cleo sprinted up the stairs and left without another word. The teenagers stared after her.

"What the heck was that all about?" asked Raph.

"That's Cleo for you," snorted Freida.

Don worked tirelessly for the rest of the afternoon and deep into the night to construct the radio wave emitter. The rest of the turtles felt too drained from their first afternoon as humans and went to bed at an early hour. April and Casey were invited to sleep over, to oversee the proceedings and to help the teenagers in managing their human needs. Cleo did not return the next morning, but Joan insisted that her genius of a sister knew what she was doing, so no one went looking for her.

Don analyzed the blood tests from the previous day to determine how powerful the Gamma radiation had been. He spent hours slaving away in front of the computers in order to get every last detail needed to construct the radio wave emitter. Once he had everything, he set to work on building the central sound wave mechanism. The radio waves would be created inside the machine in the form of ultra high frequency sound waves to be funneled into a speaker. The speaker would direct the radio waves at the turtles, who would be standing in front of the sheet covered in a layer of depleted (non-radioactive) Tritium. The bombardment of radio waves would cause the Tritium to give off a sort of "backwards-radiation", which would reverse the effects of the Gamma rays and change the turtles back.

The construction of the internal sound mechanism took three days to complete. During those three days, the other turtles learned how to walk comfortably in shoes, Mikey discovered the miracle of hair gel (thanks to April, actually), and Leo and Joan finally figured out how to brush their uneven human teeth. Once the sound mechanism was finished, Don set to work on the outer speaker, which took two days to finish. The whole device looked like a refrigerator-sized black speaker with a really big funnel mounted on top the grill, with the open side facing outwards towards the intended target.

On the evening of the fifth day, Don finally took off his safety goggles, mopped his brow with a grease-stained handkerchief, and sighed in relief.

"All done here!" he called. Everyone jerked awake. It was five o'clock in the evening, and the teenagers and April and Casey had all fallen asleep in front of the TV.

"You're done?" asked Leo, amazed.

"Yep," said Don, "but we won't be able to do anything until Cleo gets back."

"Well she'd better hurry it up," said Joan. "We've wasted five days waiting around for you to finish. Suzuki might've already fired off the electric pulse devices."

"Nah," said Lizzie, "they would've reported something on the news."

"What do you think Cleo might be doing?" asked Leo.

But they were about to find out, because at that moment, a voice called down from the top of the stairs.

"Hey guys! I'm back!" The former turtles, April, and Casey turned around to see Cleo leap down the stairs, clutching the black toolbox under one arm and a little concrete box in the other. Cleo was mind-blowingly filthy: her face was black with soot, her hands were stained brown with dried mud, the bottom ring of her green shirt and the ends of her sleeves were splattered with what looked like a combination of black sludge and oil, her brown hair was plastered flat with dirt and water, and her faded blue jeans were soaking wet. Dirty as she was, Cleo looked very pleased with herself. She dropped the black toolbox onto the floor with a loud clang, and held up the concrete box with both hands, a triumphant grin on her face.

"Here it is!" she declared happily. "One five-foot tall, twelve-foot wide sheet covered in a layer of depleted Tritium, ready and waiting to be bombarded by radio waves!"

Everyone gaped at her.

"How did you get that?" asked Don, astounded.

"I've been mining since I was nine," said Cleo. "I know how to draw out radioactive elements. Luckily I was able to find a piece of Tritium that had already gone through nuclear decay, so I didn't have worry about inducing the process."

"Where'd you find it?"

"Way down below sea level, underneath an old subway station. The rock of Tritium was four pounds, so I melted it down and soaked an old tent tarp in it."

"And you did all of this in five days?" asked April.

"I've got a mini digging drill in my toolbox." They all exchanged looks of utter amazement.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Mikey. "Are we going to change back or what?"

The procedure had to done perfectly and in the right time frame. First, Don and Cleo had to carefully hang the Tritium covered tarp on a bare stretch of wall next to the computer area, behind the row of arcade games. Then, once they had set the radio wave emitter five feet in front of the tarp, they had to adjust the settings on the machine's programming console to the precise levels of sound frequency and intensity, so that the radio waves would be powerful enough to evoke the reverse-radiation without reactivating the dormant Gamma rays. Don told April how to start the sequence on the machine, so that she could activate it while the boys and girls stood against the tarp.

Once everything was ready, Leo, Joan, Raph, Freida, Don, Cleo, Mikey, and Lizzie stood shoulder to shoulder against the tarp. Underneath their borrowed clothes, the eight of them wore their belts, kneepads, elbow pads, wristbands, and masks, so that they wouldn't have to put them on once they changed back. They also took off their shoes and socks, so as to avoid any painful explosions as their feet doubled in size.

"Everything ready?" asked Don. April nodded. Casey and Splinter stood a few feet behind her, and the three of them were wearing ear muffs, so as to avoid eardrum damage from backfire sound waves. "Okay, set off the sequence…now!" April flicked a switch on the side of the machine. A deep rumbling sound came from the speaker's interior as it powered up and built up sound waves to release. They had to wait for precisely twenty seconds before releasing the waves, otherwise it would either blow out (if released too early) or implode (if released too late). April carefully timed the sequence with her cell phone, nervously watching the numbers tick by. The seconds seemed to drag on forever. Just as the second reached twenty, Don yelled,

"Now!" April slammed her hand into the red button on the side of the machine. There was an enormous BOOM! as the turtles were hit with the ultra powered radio waves. It felt as if they were slapped with a solid wall of air. The tarp behind them began to glow red…

The effects were instantaneous. The boys and girls watched as their skin turned their different shades of green. Their hands grew larger and their extra finger disappeared while their three remaining fingers and thumbs widened. They saw their feet swell and their toes join together into two on each foot. Their arms, legs and shoulders grew larger, more muscular. Their heads grew and their mouths and noses stretched forward and sideways. Their borrowed clothes ripped as their torsos and backs became shelled once again. The wristbands, elbow pads, kneepads, belts, and masks slid back into their original snugness. And finally, their eyesight sharpened, and the hair on their heads fell out completely. Within minutes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Hidden Shell turtles were pulling the tattered remains of clothing off of their shells.

"Oh yeah! We are back dudes!" Mikey exclaimed triumphantly, flexing his muscles. They all slapped hi-threes and bumped fist, whooping and hollering with joy.

"Man, I love being a turtle!" they all shouted simultaneously. They looked at one another, and then laughed. April and Casey cheered along with them and ran forward to hug each one of the boys. Behind the cheering mob, Splinter grinned.

"Well done, Donatello," he said, "and well done Cleopatra."

"Yeah, thank you guys," said Leo, giving Don a quick squeeze and Cleo a clap on the shell. The girls group-hugged April and bumped fists with Casey.

"We can't thank you enough for all your help," said Joan.

"It was a pleasure," replied April.

"Can you guys deal from here?" asked Casey.

"Um, yeah I think so," said Mikey in friendly sarcasm. With a final goodbye, and some assurances that there were no hard feelings about the destroyed clothes, April and Casey left the lair.

"So now what?" asked Lizzie.

"Now we've got to find Suzuki," said Leo.

"But how? We don't even know where he is," said Freida.

"Yeah, it's not like he left us a note after turning us into humans," said Raph.

"True," said Don, "but, remember the electric pulse device I found on Freida's shell?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Suzuki must have scratched himself on it, because I found some tiny skin samples on the device."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Using the DNA tracking device that I invented last month, we can locate Suzuki's hideout without having to search the city!" said Don enthusiastically.

"Donny, you are such a genius!" said Leo.

"I have my moments," said Don smugly. Cleo cast him an admiring glance, then looked away, blushing.

The DNA tracker led the turtles to an old abandoned storage warehouse out by the docks. The building itself wasn't very special: its slate-gray walls, tinted windows and off-white garage-style doors didn't really scream "An evil genius lives here", but it was remote, and that was good enough for Suzuki. Security was pretty tight, but Suzuki's ninjas didn't have very good reaction time. When Leo and Raph tossed a few smoke pellets into the crowd, it took the ninjas seven seconds to realize what was going on (yes, that's bad reaction time). The eight turtles had no problem fighting the outer ring of smoke-blinded ninjas. The whole hoard was down and unconscious within minutes.

The inner ring of security was a little trickier, and took some careful planning. There were very few ninjas inside the warehouse, but they were spread out, so the turtles had to split up so as to make sure that the ninjas couldn't alert Suzuki. This actually turned out to be pretty easy for them, except for Mikey, who failed to notice the fact that the two ninjas he chose to ambush were carrying axes with blades roughly the size of trash can lids. Luckily Raph was there to step in before Mikey got cleaved in two.

Finally, all of Suzuki's ninjas were down for the count. The turtles closed ranks and were on the move to the center of the building. There, they found Suzuki, working on his pulse-cannon in the middle of a gym-sized storage room, piled high with crates that were backed up against the walls. Despite the room's size, the ceiling was surprisingly low (about 15 feet from the floor). The group leaped down from the rafters and landed with a thud. Suzuki whipped around. He blinked hard, and then rubbed his eyes with his fists, as if he saw them as fuzzy leftovers of a dream from which he had just awoken. Finally realizing that he wasn't seeing things, Suzuki's eyes became wide with terror.

"What the…? How did you…? Why?" he stammered, utterly perplexed.

"What's the matter dude?" asked Mikey sneeringly, "Are you afraid of turtles?"

Suzuki continued to stare, a mixture of shock and horror obvious on his thin, pallid face.

"Didn't know you were dealing with a couple of geniuses, did you?" asked Cleo. Don smirked, and Cleo snapped her fingers in the "In-Your-Face!" fashion.

"This should not be possible!" Suzuki gasped at last. "The effects of the ray are known to be permanent!"

"Did you miss the 'genius' part?" asked Freida, pointing to Cleo and Don. Suzuki cast frantic looks around the room and up at the ceiling.

"You're not going to be able to weasel out of this one," said Joan.

"You might as well give up now, Dirtbag," snarled Raph, "because we're not feeling very generous today."

"You've put us through enough for one lifetime," said Leo, "This is our city, and you're not going to tear it up."

The turtles whipped out their weapons and started to stalk towards Suzuki. He backed away. There was nowhere to go, and nothing he could to do. He was cornered. But then suddenly, when the turtles were little more than nine feet from their quarry, yet another hoard of ninjas dropped from the ceiling, landing between Suzuki and the turtles. But these weren't Suzuki's ninjas, they were…

"Foot ninjas!" yelled Mikey. Suzuki started to laugh.

"You fools!" he shouted, "You will never catch me!" With that statement, Suzuki climbed like a spider up a stack of crates, opened a window in the ceiling, and climbed through.

Without hesitation, Freida ran to the other side of the room, jumped and heaved herself onto the stack of crates, and climbed out of the open window. Before anyone could call her back, the Foot ninjas surged forward, leaving the rest of the turtles no choice but to stand and fight. To save time, the guys and the girls divided back into their original groups of four; fighting using a combination of moves they called "family attacks". One instance was Mikey holding Don by the wrists and swinging him in a circle, taking out anything in their path. Another instance had Cleo holding Lizzie by the top of the shell with one hand, by the belt the other, and tossing her into a crowd of ninjas, her sickles were extended out like claws. But with every Foot ninja that was knocked out, two more took his place.

As the fight wore on, Leo searched the hoard of ninjas for their leader, Karai. But she wasn't anywhere in sight. He turned to the others to tell them that it might be smarter to just leave now, so that they could look for Freida. But when he counted the number of turtles, he found that one of them was missing.

What? Leo looked closely, noting the colors of masks darting in and out of the crowd. Silver, green, yellow, orange, purple… There was no red masked turtle among the mass of black dressed and grey armored Foot ninja. Leo looked around frantically, but he was too late. Again, Raph had disappeared.


	10. Chapter 10: Tag-Teamed for Revenge

Chapter 10

Tag-Teamed for Revenge

Freida pursued Suzuki all the way to the roof of the post office on 46th and Broadway. The roof was covered with heating vents and weathervanes, and a large red-bricked chimney head dominated the far right corner. From there, the next building was too far away to jump to. Suzuki turned around just as Freida landed on the edge of the roof.

"It's the end of the line, Yoshihiro," declared Freida in a loud monotone.

"I suppose I cannot run anymore," said Suzuki. He reached towards his left hip, and drew a large broadsword from a scabbard somehow hidden in his pants pocket. He stepped into a fighting stance. "Are you ready to lose again, Freida?" Freida whipped out her fans.

"Not on your life," she growled.

Back at the warehouse, Mikey, Don, and Leo fought to clear a path to the pulse-cannon. When they got close enough, Don slipped out and set to work on the machine.

"You've got three minutes Donny!" shouted Leo.

"More than enough!" Don called back. He studied the keyboard of the machine's computer. If he could hack the mainframe, he'd be able to disable the cannon.

"Let's work some magic," he muttered to himself.

Freida and Yoshihiro Suzuki circled each other. The wind picked up and dark clouds gathered overhead. Dry lightning streaked across the night sky, and thunder roared as the clouds clashed together. It was as if nature herself was anxious for the battle to come. Considering that they were surrounded by weathervanes, the two opponents weren't in a very safe location, but they didn't care. After two circles, Freida and Suzuki ran at each other. Suzuki drew back his sword and Freida angled her fans. The two of them slashed at one another at the exact same moment. Their weapons contacted with a loud metallic clang! The force of the blow knocked them both sideways. Then they were up again, and the fight really began. Suzuki slashed diagonally, but Freida deflected the blow with her left fan, and then jabbed at Suzuki's abdomen with her right fan. Suzuki jumped back to avoid the jab. The two opponents couldn't touch one another; they were too equally matched. Suzuki deflected Frieda's every blow, and she deflected his. The clangs of their weapons rang through the night, punctuated by clashes of lightning.

Don worked furiously to hack the cannon's mainframe. The computer had layers and layers of security. Don was flying through them, but the layers seemed to go on forever. There had to be a faster way. Just then, Don heard a yell and, with a great loud thunk, Cleo landed flat on her butt right next to Don.

"Hey!" she said, getting to her feet, "Thought you could use some help."

"Uh, thanks," said Don, moving over so Cleo could see the screen.

"Security's tight eh?" asked Cleo.

"Yeah," said Don, "I think it's meant to slow you down."

"It's meant to make sure you get everything down right to the very last detail," said Cleo, "You'd have to be a genius with supercomputer IQ levels to get all of this information down."

"Well I wouldn't worry about that," said Don, "but it's taking forever to get through."

"That's the point," replied Cleo. "Luckily, I have the cheat code."

"There's a cheat code?"

"Not a cheat code, the cheat code."

"The cheat code?"

"There's only one cheat code for this kind of security, and I've got it." Cleo punched in a series of numbers, which Don recognized as the first fifteen digits of the assumed value of pi. The words "Access Gained" flashed across the screen.

"Score!" the two of them exclaimed. Don took over to hack into the computer's mainframe.

Suzuki swung his sword down towards Freida's head. She caught the blade between her fans, and then jerked it to the side and kicked diagonally, hitting Suzuki in the jaw with the instep of her right foot. But before her foot cleared the shot, Suzuki grabbed her ankle and flung her into a weathervane. Freida gasped as the breath was knocked out of her. She got to her feet only to be met by a storm of punches and kicks that she just couldn't block. Suzuki laughed as he knocked her down.

"Foolish turtle," he laughed. Freida once again struggled to her feet. She ran at Suzuki with a punch, but he grabbed her wrist and flipped her head over heels into a platform at the end of the roof. Freida sat up, and then slumped against the platform. She felt dizzy, her head was spinning and she was seeing double. Freida shook her head to clear it, but she still couldn't stand up. Suzuki sauntered over to her. He tossed her fans over the side of the roof, and then laughed mirthlessly.

"You cannot win, Freida," said Suzuki pompously, "You will never beat me alone."

"Good thing she's not alone," said a voice.

Freida looked behind her. Raph was standing on top of the platform, cool and aloof as ever, looking as if he had simply arrived fashionably late for a party.

"Need a hand?" asked Raph, jumping down from the platform and offering Freida his hand, which she took graciously. Raph heaved her to her feet. "Thought you could use some back-up," he said, handing Freida her fans.

"Thanks," said Freida, giving him a grateful smile. What a guy, she thought.

"Oh-ho!" said Suzuki, laughing tauntingly at them. "How touching. Coming to your little friend's rescue, eh? I'm honored to be in the presence of such a noble pair."

"Save your kiss-up words for prison, Suzuki," snarled Raph. He drew his sais.

"Oh please," sneered Suzuki. He lifted his broadsword into a ready position. Raph and Freida did the same.

"You know how to mirror?" asked Raph under his breath.

"Yes," whispered Freida.

"Then you know what to do."

"Yeah."

"Look out!" Leo recognized the voice that called out over the mass of Foot ninjas as Don's. Without hesitation, Leo yelled,

"Slap it!" This was the phrase he used to disguise the words "Get down!" Instantly, the other turtles followed his order. The Foot were taken aback by their enemies' sudden decision to drop to the ground with their hands over their heads. This little group jump of surprise was punctuated by a noise similar to the sound of a pencil tapping on paper, only magnified and sped up. This was followed by yelps of pain from the confused Foot ninjas. Don had gained control of the pulse-cannon, and was now firing round after round of electric pulse-chips at the ninjas. Cleo pressed the pulse button a couple of times, which was met with more yelps of pain, and then the thud of falling bodies as, one by one, the ninjas fell unconscious to the floor.

Raph and Freida rushed forward, then simultaneously jumped into an identical, partner flying side-kick. The attack hit Suzuki right in the chest. He toppled backward, temporarily winded. Then he jumped back up and swung his broadsword down. The two of them blocked it with their right-hand weapons. Then they started to spar with Suzuki, slashing and stabbing as one, their movements precise, fluid, and identical, as if this was a routine that they had been rehearsing for years. Suzuki's blocks were still relatively effective, but now that Raph and Freida were sparing with him using almost mechanical efficiency and determination, his confidence was beginning to dissipate rapidly. They actually were able to nick him a couple times, once on each arm and once on each leg.

How can they do this? thought Suzuki, Their movements are flawless!

As they pushed Suzuki back against the large chimney head, Raph and Freida made eye contact for a split second. Raph winked twice and Freida blinked, signaling that she understood. Flicking their gazes back to Suzuki, Raph jumped into the air while Freida rolled onto her back. She slid forward and kicked strait up, the heel of her foot striking Suzuki in the solar plexus. Suzuki doubled forward, gasping. At the same time, Raph landed behind him. Aiming carefully, Raph jabbed Suzuki hard in the back with the hilt of his sai. He hit just to the left of the spine, cracking the seventh rib in the process. Then Freida jumped to her feet. Raph stepped out from behind Suzuki, and Freida triple-punched her enemy in the chest, slamming him against the chimney. Then, holding Suzuki by the throat with her left hand, Freida angled her right-hand fan and drew it back. Her eyes burned with hatred as she aimed for his forehead.

Time to end it! she thought, tensing her muscles for the final blow. Raph suddenly realized what she was about to do, and he had a split second to make a decision. In the end, he chose the right one. He stepped forward and grabbed Freida's wrist. She turned her head to face him, and her gaze locked with his. She stared into Raph's brown eyes, seeing them fill up with gentle understanding. No one who's ever known him could have ever recalled seeing such a tender look in Raph's eyes. He knew how she felt, and he didn't want her to do something that he knew she would regret. As Freida saw the consoling light shining back at her, her own smoldering flame of hate fizzled out into a flickering ember of sorrow.

"Don't do it," whispered Raph, "He's done, let it go."

Freida turned back to Suzuki, who was cowering with his hands in front of his face. Sighing, Freida took her hand off of her adversary's throat. Gasping, Suzuki collapsed, massaging his neck. Then, perhaps from a combination of fright and exhaustion, Yoshihiro Suzuki fainted.

"Wimp," said Raph. Freida looked down at her feet. All at once, the anger, fear, regret, and sorrow she had been holding back for so long burst forward in a single furious instant, with blinding realization as the trigger. She felt the impact of what she had almost done collapse on her like a ton of boulders. If Raph hadn't stopped her… Freida shuddered. She had experienced fury many times before, but never in her entire life had she wanted to end someone's life. Quite suddenly, Freida began to cry as she had never cried before. Tears welled up and spilled down her face, and she shook with sobs. Raph looked around to see her breaking down, a lump welling in his throat. He never could stand to see others cry. Gently, Raph put his arm around Freida's shoulders. Instinctively, she turned and pressed her face into his shoulder, her tears soaking his skin and running down his arm. Raph was taken aback as much by her sudden show of emotion as with her contact with his shoulder. Quickly, the surprise was washed away by compassion and empathy, two emotions that hadn't often escaped from the locked chamber in Raph's soul. He put his arms around her, gently patting her shell and talking softly to her.

"Just let it out," he whispered, "It's okay."

The two of them stood there as the wind howled around them. At last, when Freida's tears had stopped flowing, they let go of each other. Freida sniffed and smiled at Raph. He smiled embarrassingly back.

"C'mon," he said, picking up his sai daggers and tucked them back into his belt, "let's tie this knucklehead up and get back to the others." Freida nodded. She was blushing pretty badly, although it was from more than just embarrassment. She picked up her fans and tucked them into her belt. Then she took some strong fishing line out of a little pouch on her belt, and used it to tie Suzuki's hands and feet together.

"What should we do with him?" asked Freida. Raph thought for a moment.

"How strong is that fishing line?" he asked.

"Strong enough to hold up a three hundred pound tuna."

"Perfect." Raph picked up Suzuki and jumped off the roof. Freida ran over to the edge, her heart pounding. Raph was perched on a light pole stationed on the sidewalk next to the building, and was using the fishing line to hang Suzuki from the pole by his feet. When he finished, Raph leapt over and climbed the building's fire escapes back up to the roof. "That'll keep him busy. I kinda hope for his sake that the cops will show up soon," he said. "Let's get out of here."

Back at the warehouse, Leo finished tying up the last of the unconscious Foot ninjas. He rubbed his hands together and sighed. He turned back to check on the others. Don and Cleo were disabling the pulse cannon, and Mikey and Lizzie were smashing the rest of the pulse-chips. Joan was keeping watch to make sure that no there were no more ninjas coming.

"Alright!" said Leo, loud enough so that everyone could hear him, "Now let's go find Raph and Freida."

"No need!" came Raph's voice. The turtles looked up to see Raph and Freida hanging upside-down by their legs through the ceiling window.

"Raph!" exclaimed the boys.

"Freida!" chimed in the girls. Raph and Freida let go of the window, flipped in mid-air, and landed feet first on the floor. The others ran over to greet them.

"Where's Suzuki?" asked Joan.

"Taken care of," said Raph triumphantly. "The cops shouldn't have any trouble picking him up, or should I say taking him down?" He and Freida laughed. She looked over at him. He looked back and winked. She smiled. The two of them silently agreed not to tell the others about their little moment on the roof, because they knew that they would be teased.

"What did you do?" asked Leo.

"I just took a leaf out of the Nightwatcher's book," replied Raph. The boys roared with laughter. The Nightwatcher had been Raph's vigilante identity for the past year, until he had come to his senses and given it up. The Nightwatcher's signature had been hanging captured criminals upside-down from light poles, just as the pair had just done with Yoshihiro Suzuki.

"Let's head back now," said Leo, still chuckling.

The turtles were so tired and so relieved from that night's mission that they fell asleep almost as soon as they got back to the lair. When Splinter came out to greet them, he found all of them sleeping, on either the couch or the floor. Smiling, he draped blankets over them, before heading back to bed himself. The next morning everyone woke up in a great mood. Mikey switched on the TV and flicked to the news channel, where it was reported that Yoshihiro Suzuki had been found and arrested the previous night. At the sound of this report, the turtles erupted into ecstatic cheers. They slapped each other hi-threes and hugged and jumped up and down. Lizzie even did a couple of back-flips, shouting a triumphant war cry: "FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST!"

When the cheering finally subsided, Joan turned to Leo.

"Um…listen. Even though Suzuki's in jail now, do you think that we could stay with you guys for just a little while longer?" This question caught Leo by surprise.

"You want to?" he asked

"Just for a little bit," replied Joan. "It would be a nice break for us, from…you know…"

"Being pursued across the country," said Cleo.

"Dragging a most clever and annoying criminal mastermind to New York City," put in Freida.

"And being turned into humans!" finished Lizzie.

"Yeah, from all that," said Joan.

"Well, we'd like you to stay," said Leo, "Right guys?" There was a resounding and enthusiastic "Heck yes!" from the boys.

"We love having you guys around!" said Mikey. Lizzie giggled impulsively.

"What do you think, Sensei?" asked Leo. Splinter looked up.

"I think it is a wonderful idea. You girls may stay as long as you like."


	11. Chapter 11: Something More than Friends

Chapter 11

Something More than Friends

Now, when you've got a group of teenage boys and teenage girls living in the same house (or in this case, the same sewer lair), things start to happen. Emotions start to surface. "Relationships" start to develop. Even if the occupants are mutated turtles, the emotional state of a bunch of teenagers is always on edge. One push in the right direction can send them crashing into the wall of reality. In other words, if you live with someone for a long enough time, you either end up despising them, or to falling for them.

As four weeks passed by, emotions did start to surface. Relationships slowly started to develop, although no one said anything about it. The boys and girls started to split into pairs; spending most of their time with whosever company they enjoyed most. Splinter, always so observant, was the only one who saw what was really going on, and he was pleased about it. This had been one of the reasons he had let the girls stay with them.

Lizzie and Mikey were the most thrilled at the situation of sharing the same lair. They spent nearly all of their time together, playing video games, Mikey teaching Lizzie how to skateboard, reading comic books, etc. Some nights the two of them would fall asleep on the couch while staying up to watch the late show. If Mikey woke up to find Lizzie sleeping with her head in his lap, he wouldn't be able to take his eyes off of her. In truth, Mikey really did find her attractive, he especially loved her eyes. She was the only one of her sisters to have blue eyes, just as he was the only one of his brothers to have blue eyes. Plus, her personality was so identical to his it was like a dream. If he had his way, Mikey would stare at Lizzie for hours on end, but seeing her asleep was his only opportunity to do so, at least until he fell asleep as well. If Lizzie woke up to find herself lying down with her head in Mikey's lap, she'd blush, then close her eyes and listen to the sound of his breathing until she fell back asleep. Lizzie also found Mikey attractive, thinking that the combination of his personality and good looks to be something girls could only hope to find in a fairy tale (in her opinion). Of course she could never admit to any of this, because it would be all too convenient if he felt the same way about her.

Cleo and Don spent all of their time working in the computer area. They had decided to use the time that the girls were staying with them to build Cleo's "Instant Override" chip. Between the two of them the project took about a week. Their combined intelligence helped the operation go much smoother than when Cleo had done it on her own. Cleo's job was to design and construct the software, and Don's job was to wire the circuitry. It was a long process that kept them up late, but it was, nevertheless enjoyable. For six days, they talked as they worked, sharing stories of how they helped their siblings with their inventions and of the many projects they worked on during the course of their lives. On the seventh day, they installed the software into the chip.

"Okay," said Don, "let's test it." Cleo inserted the chip into a Gameboy. Instantly, the gaming system shut down all functions and would not turn back on.

"It works!" they exclaimed together. The two of them jumped up and down, laughing and cheering. In the heat of the excitement, Don and Cleo hugged. They didn't realize what they were doing until about five seconds later. When they did, they quickly let go, looking embarrassed, but pleased.

Leo and Joan spent most of their time working out together. I mean, the two of them generally worked out for three hours a day, but they did it a little more often, so as to enjoy each other's company. Oddly enough, a competitive side, usually brought out by their younger siblings, started to emerge, mingling with their growing feelings for each other. If Leo started doing push-ups, Joan would start doing more than he was. If Joan started doing crunches, Leo would start doing more than she was. If Leo worked on fighting moves for defending against five, Joan would work on moves defending against ten. This unofficial competition amused the both of them. Leo was the leader of his team, so he had a little more athletic prowess than his brothers (well, maybe not Raph, but that's another story). Since the girls had no leader, it was untested to see who had more athletic prowess then the others. But Leo could easily see that Joan had enough prowess for all four of the girls. Eventually, the two of them decided to test to see which of them had more athletic prowess than the other. The challenge was to fight each other in light touch combat, without weapons, until the end of a song. At the beginning, Joan drove Leo nuts by swerving, dodging, and practically dancing out of the way of his punches and kicks. But this just made Leo more determined. By the middle of the song, the two of them were landing "hit" after "hit" on each other. But this was all done in good humor; they were chuckling the whole time. There was one instant where Joan threw a punch at Leo's face and missed. The momentum knocked her off balance and she landed in Leo's arms, their faces close to each other's, just as the lead singer the band they were listening to sang something about the boy finally getting the guts to kiss the girl. Joan quickly removed herself from Leo's arms, blushing. When the song ended, the two of them fell over, Joan on top of Leo, absolutely howling with laughter.

Raph was very pleased with the girls' staying with them for a while, but with this pleasure came a distinct shyness that kept him quiet about the whole thing (which was weird, because shyness was not something he experienced very often). The second night after Suzuki's arrest, Raph went topside (to the surface) to mull over his mixed feelings. Freida saw him leave and decided to follow. She trailed Raph to Chinatown, where she found him practicing some moves on the roof of a restaurant. The restaurant had a clear view of the marketplace, where fruit stands, fish stands, fireworks carts, and family owned clothing stores lined the narrow walkways over which hung ornate red, green, and gold paper lanterns, which bathed the pavement with a soft colorful glow. The roof itself was nothing special; it contained only a heating vent and two small water towers in opposite corners of the roof. Freida sneaked up behind him and whispered,

"Come here often?" Raph jumped two feet off the ground. He swung at her diagonally with the heel of his left foot. "Easy Raph!" said Freida, catching hold of his ankle before it connected with her head. "It's me."

"Oh," said Raph. Freida let go of his ankle. He let out a sigh of good-natured exasperation. "You should know not to sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry."

"What are you doing up here?"

"I wanted to see where the mysterious ninja snuck off to." A mischievous smile carved Freida's face. Her teeth were very white. Raph gulped. "So, do you come here often?" she asked.

"Yeah, actually I do," answered Raph. Freida looked around, nodding.

"I can see why. You can actually see the stars and moon from here."

"Yeah." Raph looked down at his feet. He had never felt so shy before; it was as if the confidence he usually carried with him had evaporated completely. He couldn't talk right. "Uh, you wanna sit down?" he asked, gesturing to the flat roof ledge.

"Sure!" said Freida. Raph sat down on the ledge and Freida sat down on his left (not right next to him; about a foot of space was attained).

"There's not as much crime in Chinatown," said Raph, kind of offhandedly. "People are safer here."

"Ah," nodded Freida, "that's always a plus." She shifted her weight, looking down at the busy street below. "The lanterns are nice."

"Wha? Oh! Yeah." Freida laughed at his delayed reaction.

"What's the matter?" she asked teasingly. "Is the calm night air making you sleepy?"

"No." Raph thought quickly. "I was just thinking about something Mikey said once. He wondered whether or not those lanterns would make good fishbowls." The two of them laughed nervously. Frieda put her hand down next to her, at the exact same time as Raph put his down. Their hands touched. They gasped and drew their hands back. They looked at each other. A moment passed, during which both Raph and Freida experienced an explosion of butterflies in their stomachs. Freida smiled slightly, and slowly held out her hand. Raph looked down at it, then back up at her face. As he became absorbed in her warm, friendly eyes, the butterflies in his stomach did a kind of drunken Maccarrena that carried them up to his shell. She was just so…so…pretty. No, that wasn't the right word. Beautiful. Yes, that was it. As soon as he thought it, Raph knew it was over. The emotions that had been threatening to overflow had taken over. He was officially attracted to Freida. A tiny little smile edged itself along Raph's face, and he took Freida's hand. Instantly, the caldron of attraction bubbled up into a full-blown crush (yes, stuff like that can happen fast). Across the foot of space that separated the two of them, Freida was experiencing the exact same thing. She had finally come to the conclusion that had been ramming itself into her mind ever since she saw Raph on the wharf the night she had been captured: if she hung around him long enough, she was going to develop a crush on him. The two of them turned back to look at the moon, their green three-fingered hands clasped on the ledge beside them. They didn't consider it a boyfriend and girlfriend session of holding hands, but it was a step in the right direction.

So the four weeks stretched on, and eventually everyone had a crush on somebody. The more time the turtles spent with each other, the stronger those crushes became, until eventually everyone had boiling pots of feelings nestled inside their teenager's hearts. It wasn't long before they all were head-over-heels for each other. Of course, no one admitted to these new feelings, because, like all teenagers, they feared finding out that their crush didn't like them back. You know as well as I do that at that point there wasn't a snowball's chance in heck that that was true. But no one wanted to take any chances. The dramatic tension was so great that the lair was filled to the brim with it. To Splinter, it was like watching a soap opera: the awkwardness, the shyness, the friendliness, the dreamy eyes…you get the idea. Anyway, despite the awkwardness, the turtles felt a sense of unity with their strengthening bonds. Tempers lengthened, moods lightened, and sibling rivalries were forgotten for the time being. The turtles were content to go on nightly outings around the city without anyone on their tails. It was one of those rare periods of peace that settled over their lives whenever nothing major was

happening, like the aftermath of a war…..

…..But unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last…


	12. Chapter 12: Playing the Blame Game

Chapter 12

Playing the Blame Game

As the last day of the four week period drew to a close, the turtles all decided to go topside for a little exercise. By exercise I mean playing a game of "Ninja Tag" , boys versus girls. "Ninja Tag" was a game the boys invented when they were kids. It was a teamwork game, were groups of two would race each other across a stretch of buildings. The partners had to help each other across, over, or under the different obstacles that dotted the rooftops. The game was: whichever team got to the Nike's billboard on 36th Ave. first was the winner. The losing team had to buy the winning team pizza. The girls were pretty confident. They had played this game before, only in trees. The game went off very well, with the boys taking the lead. But as they drew closer to the halfway point, Mikey spotted a commotion down on the ground. He stopped. Leo, noticing Mikey's absence, halted the game.

"Hold up!" he called. The others stopped and ran over to where Mikey was standing. He pointed down at a Radio Shack across the street.

"Someone's robbing it!" said Cleo in alarm.

"Lizzie, you have the sharpest eyesight. Can you see who they are?" asked Joan.

Lizzie leaned over the edge of the roof and peered down at the store. Whereas most people would have to squint to see what was happening inside the Radio Shack, Lizzie opened her eyes a little wider in order to aid her extra-developed retina. She could see what was going on with perfect clarity.

"Looks like the Foot are robbing it," said Lizzie.

"Well what are we standing around here for? Let's go get them!" said Raph, putting one foot on the ledge of the roof.

"Hold it Raph!" said Leo, grabbing his brother's arm. "We need to approach this like ninjas."

So, being true to the way of the Ninja, the turtles made their way to the roof of the Radio Shack. There was a window in the roof. Don carefully opened it and peered inside.

"There's about three dozen Foot ninjas in there," he whispered.

"Yeah, hardly seems fair; there's eight of us," said Raph mischievously. He looked over at Leo. " but then when did the Foot ever care about being fair. Shall I?" he asked.

"Be my guest," said Leo. Raph tossed a couple of throwing stars at the store's light. Immediately, they died out. "Let's move," said Leo. They jumped through the window.

The fight couldn't have been any easier. The turtles knocked out and tied the ninjas without even being seen, then they set off the security alarm so the police would come to investigate. The turtles took one of the ninjas with them, because they wanted to question him. They stopped on the roof of an apartment building a few doors away from the Radio Shack. Mikey put the unconscious ninja next to a chimney head.

"We'll just ask him questions when he wakes up," said Leo.

"But then we'll be here all night!" whined Lizzie.

Freida wasn't paying attention to any of these exchanges. She was watching the Radio Shack.

"Uh, guys?" Everyone looked up. "I think we missed some." The others looked over to the rooftops beyond the store.

"Oh, great," said Raph exasperatedly. Thirteen ninjas were fleeing across the rooftops.

"Don't worry, I've got them!" said Freida. She ran to other end of the roof and jumped to the next one. "Don't follow me!" she called back. "I can handle this!"

"There she goes again," sighed Cleo, " some times she can act like such an idiot."

"I don't think that we should let her go after them alone," warned Leo. "Those guys can get pretty tough on you, plus they've probably got some back-up waiting for them over there. Maybe we should…Oh no, Raph!" Leo took a couple steps forward. Raph was all ready making his way swiftly across the rooftops after Freida, having only listened to the first part of Leo's warning. "Raph! Come back!" shouted Leo.

Raph followed close behind Freida as she pursued the fleeing Foot ninjas across five rooftops.

She doesn't know what she's doing! he thought frantically. Freida might have been good, but she wasn't that good. She had never fought a group of Foot ninjas on her own before. They weren't like Suzuki's ninjas; they were much tougher. They liked to get their enemy alone so that they could ambush them. Raph had found that out the hard way.

Freida was not going to let these ninjas get away. They leaped across a gap between two buildings. She was about to spring after them, but suddenly a hand caught her upper arm and held her back.

"What the…?" She whirled around. It was Raph. "Raph?" Freida wrenched her arm out of his grip. "I told you guys not to follow me!" Frieda was outraged. Raph looked affronted.

"What do you mean? You? Take on those ninjas alone?" he asked.

"I said I could handle it!" said Freida.

"But…I…" Raph was confused now. He hitched a scowl on his face. "I just wanted to give you some help. I didn't want you to go alone."

"Did you not hear me? I would have been fine!" Freida looked around. The Foot ninjas were gone. "Great!" she yelled in frustration, "You let them get away!"

"Hey guys!" said Lizzie, "I think he's waking up!" The rest of the turtles crowded around their captured Foot ninja. Leo drew one of his swords and Joan pulled out her spear. The two of them pointed their weapons at the ninja. He lifted his head almost drunkenly to peer at them.

"All right you," said Leo sharply, "We want to know…Hey!" The ninja sprang up on the chimney, out of reach of the turtles. They backed away, eyes trained, and started to ease out their weapons. The ninja pulled some sort of remote control out of a pouch on his belt.

"Hey," said Cleo, her eyes slowly widening, "Is that a…?"

"REMOTE DETONATOR!" cried Don. With a cry of fear and alarm, the turtles turned and started to run, but the ninja had already activated the bomb.

Raph was trying to explain to Freida that he had only wanted to help, but he was interrupted by a terrifying explosion. Raph and Freida turned around to see an enormous ball of fire materializing on top of the building were the turtles had been standing guard over the Foot ninja. The two of them screamed.

"NO!" Raph and Freida ran over to the exploded rooftop to see what had become of their siblings. When they got there, all they found was a gaping hole in the roof, exposing the burned and charred attic of the apartment building below. The surrounding edges of the roof were covered in large blocks of concrete and steel. Piles of blackened bricks had accumulated on the sidewalk below, and there were screams of fear and outrage, coming from the lower residents of the apartment. The other turtles were nowhere in sight.

"Guys?!" called Raph. He searched the rubble frantically for his missing brothers, but found nothing. Tears stung his eyes, but he pushed them back; he refused to believe that they were dead. He called their names, lifting pieces of concrete and metal as he did. Freida meanwhile was peering over the edge of the obliterated roof, at an alleyway across the street.

"Over there!" she called to Raph, pointing at the alley. Raph looked around. He could see the shapes of the other turtles strewn across the alley floor. Raph and Freida climbed down the building and ran across the street. Luckily this was a sparsely inhabited neighborhood where people didn't often venture out at night, so they weren't seen.

The blast from the detonator had blown the turtles off the roof and into the alleyway. The explosion should have killed them, but they had put enough distance between themselves and the point of detonation, so they were miraculously alive. The force of the fall should have killed them as well, but the alley was equipped with discarded items that served to cushion their fall. So, they were all alive, but in a world of pain. Leo was lying on a pile of garbage bags. Don was underneath a pile of cardboard boxes that lay on top of a great chunk of insulation foam. Mikey had landed on a trash can, but luckily there was a partially torn couch pillow on top of the trash can, so he was okay. Joan had landed on a Dumpster, and then rolled off it onto the ground, where she just missed a pile of broken glass. Cleo had landed face down on an old mattress, and Lizzie had landed on top of her.

Raph and Freida looked around the alleyway, horrified at the misfortune that had befallen their siblings. Raph ran to Leo's side, and Freida ran to Joan's.

"You okay?" asked Raph, pulling his older brother into a sitting position. Leo nodded. Raph took his arm and helped him to his feet. He helped Leo out of the garbage and lowered him down to sit on the ground. Freida sat Joan up and leaned her against the Dumpster, pulling out a piece of glass that was stuck in her sister's shell. Then she lifted Lizzie off Cleo and sat Cleo up. Raph picked Mikey off of the trashcan and lay him, groaning, down on the ground. Then he dug Don out of the cardboard boxes and helped him stand up, only to help him sit down again.

Everyone was wincing and moaning in pain. Joan seemed to have a slight concussion, and looked as if she was only partly conscious.

"Is…is everyone still alive?" asked Leo. There was a loud groan from the group at large.

"That stupid robbery was a trap!" said Cleo.

"I think we've all established that," said Don.

"When we fell, my whole life flashed before my eyes!" said Lizzie. Then she frowned. "I don't remember raising geese…"

"Now's not the time to discuss what happened," said Leo. "We've got to get back to the lair."

"There's a manhole right here," said Mikey, who was sitting on one. He scooted over to let Freida lift the manhole cover off. The she and Raph helped the others gingerly down into the opening.

When the turtles got back to the lair, Raph and Freida ran all over the place fetching bandages and ice for the wounded six. Once everyone was nestled on either the couch or in chairs, Raph leaned against the wall and Freida sat on the floor.

"That was a complete disaster!" growled Freida.

"Couldn't agree with you more," said Cleo wearily.

"So the robbery was a trap?" asked Lizzie, adjusting the icepack she held over her right eye.

"That's a definite," said Leo, wincing as he rubbed his severely bruised calf.

"So, we've established that the Foot lured us to that Radio Shack. That one ninja let us capture him so that he could try and kill us. I am also guessing that those thirteen escapees where prepared to get rid of Raph and Freida if they had followed them far enough," confirmed Don. "Did I miss anything?"

"Negative, Brother," said Mikey.

"And guess whose fault this all was," said Freida bitterly.

"It's nobody's fault Freida," said Joan consolingly, "We couldn't have predicted this."

"If you want to blame someone," said Raph, walking over to where Freida sat, "blame the morons who came up with this whole thing!" He actually bared his teeth and clenched his fists. "Don't worry, they'll get theirs. Count on it."

"Oh, I'm not blaming the Foot, Raph," said Freida coldly.

"You're not?"

"No." Freida stood up, staring him straight in the face. Her expression was so fierce it was alarming. When she next spoke, her voice was tight with fury.

"I'm blaming you."

"Me?!" Raph backed away. "What? Why?"

"Why would you blame Raph?" asked Leo, standing up and staring at Freida in outrage. "He didn't do anything." Freida, however didn't seem to hear him. Her enraged gaze was fixed on Raph.

"I didn't want anyone to follow me!" she said furiously. "But you did anyway, and now looked what happened!" She gestured at her injured sisters. Raph couldn't believe what was he hearing.

"Are you saying that if I had stayed, this wouldn't have happened?"

"You could have helped prevent it!" shouted Freida. "You could have stayed and helped the others. But you didn't!"

"Hey! I followed you because you just took off after a group of Foot ninjas without a second thought!"

"Well what did you expect me to do? Just let them get away?"

"Better that then letting yourself get lured into an ambush! You swallowed their bait like a blind fish!"

Freida snorted.

"I could have taken them."

Raph exhaled loudly. Then his voice changed from exasperated to (much to the surprise of his brothers) timid and embarrassed, though it lost none of its volume.

"I followed you because I wanted to make sure that…that you didn't get hurt!" He blurted out the last part. The others were watching this shouting match with a mixture of apprehension and pity. As it progressed, they noticed that Raph seemed to want to say something, but couldn't get the words out. Freida, on the other hand, was jumping on him every time he hesitated. To the boys this was a surprise. They had never seen Raph hesitate in a verbal fight; it just wasn't like him.

"Are you saying that I can't take care of myself?" asked Freida, outraged. Of course she'd arrived at this conclusion on her own.

"No," said Raph, "all I'm saying is that it was kind of reckless."

"Reckless? Ha!" Freida laughed without humor. "You're the one who's always eager for a fight! The one who's always going off by himself; the one who never hesitates to throw a punch! You're just as reckless as I am." Her hands were balled into fists.

"Maybe you should give him a break Freida," said Lizzie. "He only wanted to help…"

"Shut up Lizzie," growled Freida, not looking at her younger sister. The girls gasped. Freida had never spoken to Lizzie like that.

"Don't talk to her like that!" said Joan furiously.

"Stay out of this, Joan." At the moment, Freida didn't care what anyone else had to say. Right now, all she cared about, was her fury towards Raph. Right now she hated everything about him. He didn't think that she could take care of herself? Well, she wasn't going to stand for that!

"Leave them alone!" snarled Raph. He didn't care how he felt about Freida; she had no right to talk to her sisters like that.

"Make me!" challenged Freida, taking a menacing step forward.

"What?"

"You heard me. If you think you're so tough, then why don't you just fight me right here…. now!"

Raph stared at her. As angry as he was, he had absolutely no desire to fight Freida, not now, not ever.

"No." said Raph. This time the boys actually gasped. Raph refusing a fight? This was just too weird. Raph never refused a fight; it was his nature to fight when he was angry, to beat the living daylights out of anyone who ticked him off. But now…He was actually saying no? It was as if the world had turned upside down. His brothers were too shocked to even run to his defense.

"I'm not going to fight you."

"Oh, yes you are!" Without any warning, Freida's clenched fist flew out from her side. Raph, unprepared for this sudden attack, felt her knuckles sink into the side of his mouth. The force of the blow knocked him sideways. Freida brought her knee up almost immediately after drawing her fist back. It hit Raph squarely in the sternum. He coughed and fell backwards. The force of the kick sent him rolling sideways when he hit the ground. He came to a stop a few feet away. Raph clutched at his mouth, snarling in pain. He got up on his hands and knees, then spat out a mouthful of saliva. Something small and white came out along with the liquid. Raph started and felt the inside of his mouth with his finger. Freida's punch had chipped one of his bottom side teeth. Gasping, Raph slowly got to his feet. He stared, half angry, half devastated, by Freida's behavior. He wiped his mouth roughly with his knuckles, then stood up strait to face her.

"What's the matter with you?!" asked Joan. She tried to get up, but her knee was badly twisted; she couldn't really stand.

"He's what's wrong with me!" hissed Freida. She punched at Raph's right eye with her left hand, but he blocked the strike with his right forearm. Freida quickly pivoted on her right foot and kicked at the side of his head with the instep of her left foot, but he ducked. Freida jumped up and brought her still raised foot down toward his left shoulder, aiming for his collar bone. He rolled sideways out of the way. Freida cart wheeled behind him, grabbed his shoulders, flipped forward, and flung him down onto the ground. Before he could get up, Freida once again brought the heel of her foot town towards him. Raph caught her foot and thrust it sideways, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall over. Raph jumped up and blocked more of her strikes, still, without throwing any in retaliation. Leo's eyes widened in recognition. Raph was using the same dodge and block defensive technique as he had used when he had fought the Nightwatcher (this was just before he knocked the vigilante's helmet off and discovered that it was his brother). Only Raph wasn't attacking Freida at all. Freida was giving it her all, fighting out of rage, but no matter how many punches or kicks she threw, she could not touch him. What she didn't know was that despite the fact that they never made contact, every blow was causing him pain. Every strike, every punch, every kick she threw at him was like a stab to the heart. And every time he dodged, or blocked, or hesitated, he felt that his pride was being wounded. Raph was balancing on the tip of a double-edge sword: on one hand, he thought he shouldn't fight Freida, not now that he had developed such strong feelings for her. But on the other hand, Raph was struggling against his very nature by refusing to fight. If he started to fight back, he'd at least he'd get some thrill in the release of all of this anger. These tormenting thoughts and feelings battered at Raph's soul like a thousand spiked clubs. The only thing he could think to do was to keep dodging and blocking while trying to fight back the urge to cry; he wasn't one to cry very often, so the effort to restrain his tears demanded extra energy on his part.

Freida chased Raph all around the lair. The more he dodged and blocked, the angrier she got. The only thing on her mind was causing him pain, but that was nearly impossible at the moment, which was causing her rage to reach the boiling point. She hadn't felt this angry in years. None of the others tried to intervene, because they were still too weak and injured to make any difference. Splinter didn't intervene because he knew that this was a conflict that the two of them had to work out on their own; he could not help them. He doubted that anything serious would happen as long as they weren't using weapons.

"Stop running!" screamed Freida. She ran at Raph and jumped into a flying side-kick. Raph leaped aside at the last minute, and Frieda slammed into Mikey's skateboard ramp. She roared in fury. She stood up, looking more than capable of murder, and pulled out her fans.

"Freida NO!" Joan, ignoring her twisted knee, ran forward and stood a few feet in front of her violent sister. "That's enough!" But Freida ignored her. She locked eyes with Raph, breathing heavily through her clenched teeth.

"Take up your weapons, Raphael," she hissed. "Defend yourself!" Raph swallowed, hard, and reached for his sais. The others drew in a breath simultaneously, anxiously looking from one turtle to the other. Raph drew his weapons, and raised them slowly, blades down, his hands shaking horribly. Frieda eyed the sais, gripping her fans tightly, and tensing the muscles in her legs. Raph paused for a moment, then, with a furious exhale, he tossed the two three-pronged daggers aside; they clattered to the floor and skidded a ways before coming to rest just a few feet in front of his stunned brothers.

"Never," Raph said quietly, "I will never arm myself against you."

The lair was silent. Everyone was starting at Raph, mouths open in shock. Freida inhaled slowly, then let out a feral growl.

"COWARD!" she roared. She ran and jumped over Joan, then started slashing at Raph. He dodged with difficulty, narrowly avoiding the fans. Splinter and the boys looked on worriedly. Without his sais to defend himself… Raph had a high chance being seriously injured by Freida's fans. Raph knew he could stop this fight, if only he could just catch one of the fans and knock the other one out of her hands…Raph readied himself, trying to get into position. But Freida spotted what he was planning to do. In mid-swing, she changed direction . Raph hesitated. Freida saw her opportunity and seized it. Suddenly the lair rang with Raph's cry of pain as the metal fan grazed his left shoulder.

The other turtles gasped and started forward, only to wince and fall back down. Joan uttered a soft scream, sinking to the floor and clutching her twisted knee. Raph fell back against a pillar, his right hand clapped over his shoulder. There wasn't any blood, but when he looked, Raph saw a jagged white slash mark running from one side of his shoulder to the other. Even though it wasn't deep, the graze stung horribly, like ten hepatitis shots multiplied twenty times over, along with the aching, sore effect, of a flu shot. Raph breathed raggedly; the pain was almost unbearable.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" breathed Freida. Raph looked up her. He saw the white slash marks on her cheeks, glistening with sweat. Her brown eyes had seemed to have turned black with malice, her teeth were bared, and her brow was creased in to a menacing glare. Raph's stomach lurched; this felt like it must have been the same evil, triumphant, hate filled look that he had turned upon his brother, Leo, when he had beat him the last time that they had fought. In that one instant, faced with the same hatred that he had treated his own brother with for so long, and to see it coming from the one person who had helped him to feel things that no one else ever had, Raph was sure he felt his heart break. It was over…he had lost the chance to tell Freida how he truly felt about her. Now he knew that she would never forgive him for this crime she was convinced he was guilty of. Raph felt that his soul was being torn to pieces, fractured beyond repair. He did all he could to let none of this show on his face, by looking as blank as he could. Luckily, Raph's talent for hiding feelings paid off and he did not betray his anguish. But he kept his eyes carefully shadowed, and stood up, taking his hand off of his injured shoulder.

Leo watched in torment. He had guessed how Raph felt about Freida; it was the only possible reason for him to refuse to fight her. It felt horrible, watching his brother being attacked by someone else he cared about. Another person might think that Raph deserved it, after treating his family the same way for so long, especially Leo. But Leo knew better; he couldn't wish that pain on anyone, especially not Raph, the one he was closest to in his family. Leo was way too kind a soul to want that fate for his brother, but at this moment, there was nothing he could do. He winced, feeling his own shoulder, that had been wrenched in the fall, and his ankle was twisted. He'd be probably be more of a hindrance, than a help. He noticed that Don and Mikey weren't in any better condition.

Freida snapped her fans back in her belt, and then ran at Raph, looking to strike a final blow. Raph stood and faced her, his face a mask of stone. Freida cocked her fist back to punch him. Instead of blocking the blow or dodging it, Raph caught her fist. Freida swung at him with her other one. With a loud SMACK! he caught that one too. They struggled there, pumping all of their upper body strength into trying to overpower each other. Their arms shook and sweat beaded up and streamed down the sides of their faces. Freida glowered and clenched her teeth with the strain. Raph grimaced at the pain in his shoulder. The others held their breaths. There was no way this could last. Something had to give.

In the end, it was Raph, who's patience just gave out. His shoulder smarted, but worse, his insides ached with sorrow and hurt. He didn't want to do this to Freida, but he felt that he had no choice. So, Raph stepped back with his right foot, bent his right elbow, and threw Freida over his shoulder. She soared through the air, and slammed headlong into the stairs. Raph staggered sideways, and then turned around to face her. Freida heaved herself to her feet, breathing heavily.

"Freida," pleaded Raph, horrified with what he had just done, "I…I didn't want to…I'm sorry." But Freida didn't answer. She just glowered silently at him. Inside, she felt that her pride had been wounded. "Are you alright?" asked Raph.

"I'm fine!" snapped Freida. "I don't need you." Then she looked at the others. Suddenly, she was very disappointed with her sisters for not backing her up. "I don't need any of you! I'm out of here!" She ran up the stairs and flew out the entrance.

"Freida!" cried Joan, "Come back here!"

"Why didn't we do anything?" agonized Lizzie, voicing disappointment in herself and the others. "We could have stopped that!"

"Who are you kidding?" asked Cleo. "Does it look like any of us are in any condition to get in Freida's way when she's like that?" She snorted. "I like having all of my teeth in my mouth thank- you." But Cleo's exasperation evaporated once she could see Don's sorrowful expression. She instantly regretted what she had said. She knew it wasn't right that they hadn't been supportive. She sure hoped Don didn't think she was heartless.

Raph was staring at the top of the stairs where Freida had disappeared when Leo limped up behind him.

"You want anything for that scratch?" he asked quietly.

"No," replied Raph. His mind was racing. He was having a flashback. He saw flashes of that time almost a month ago, when he and Leo had fought. He had almost killed Leo out of anger. When he had finally come to his senses and realized what he had done, he had run away, upset and angry with himself, leaving his brother injured and in such a weakened condition, that Leo had then been captured shortly after. Raph had returned and tried to save him, but he had arrived too late. He had felt horrible, and even after they had rescued Leo and the two of them had made up, Raph still had not been able to really forgive himself. Now, what if something like that happened to Freida? He couldn't let that happen, not again. Even though he knew his chances with her were gone, he still could not let any harm come to her. He had prevent it, no matter what it cost him. Without another word, Raph retrieved his sais, then headed up the stairs.

"Raph!" Leo called after him. Raph looked back. Leo had never seen so much pain in his brother's eyes. Just seeing it made him hurt. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to bring Frieda back," replied Raph solemnly.

"Don't trouble yourself Raph," said Joan, gingerly getting to her feet. "It's not your problem."

"It is my problem 'cause she's mad at me!" said Raph.

"Yeah she is!" said Mikey, a little unhelpfully. Everyone looked at him, annoyed. "Sorry," he apologized, looking sheepish.

"I won't be gone long," said Raph, bringing their attention back to him. "I just have to find her before anyone else does."

"What do you mean?" asked Joan.

"The Foot just tried to kill us!" said Raph urgently. "What makes you think that they won't try it again?" He continued up the stairs.

"Raphael." Raph turned around. Splinter was standing at the bottom of the stairs, fixing him with an intense gaze. He readied himself to be chastised for being irrational. But when Splinter next spoke, his tone was consoling. "Remember, this is not a problem that you can simply fix on your own. If you choose to bare this burden, you must think it through very carefully, before you act. Now go, swiftly, and bring Freida back…but be very cautious." No one in the room seemed to understand what had just happened. Raph certainly didn't, but as he locked eyes with his mentor, he began to get a pretty good idea of what the old rat meant. Raph gave a stiff nod. With that, he hurried up the rest of the stairs. Leo made to go after him, but Splinter stopped him with his staff. "You cannot help him now," he said quietly. "This is a battle that your brother must fight on his own."

"But why?" asked Leo. "Why should he have to do something like this on his own?"

"In the past his solitary nature was a hindrance to this team. But the situation is much different now. Freida has almost as much anger inside as Raphael once did, before he changed his ways. This makes your brother the only one who may truly understand and help her now. She needs the guidance of someone who has shared in this struggle with the demons of inner anger…and has come through it triumphant."

Everyone fell silent. Joan lowered her eyes from the spot were her sister had disappeared. She was stung by the truth that Splinter had spoken. She felt like a terrible sister, allowing this to happen. She slowly raised her eyes again, and found them resting on Leo. She longed to comfort him, to try to ease his pain…but this was beyond anything that she could heal.

But then Mikey started laughing.

"What?" asked Don.

"Raph's got the hots for Freida!" said Mikey mischievously.

"Michelangelo!" warned Splinter, trying to keep a straight face.

"What? He does!" Lizzie threw a pillow at him, giggling.

Freida emerged from a manhole in an alleyway opposite a Mexican restaurant on Lexington Avenue. She hoisted herself out and slid the cover back on, then climbed a nearby fire escape to the top of an apartment building. The roof was desolate and lonely, with nothing but a roof top entrance doorway and some sagging clothes on a line, to block the view of the city. There were several badly patched-up cracks dotting the area around the edges, left over from a season of hard rains that occurred more than two years ago. The residents of this building were seemingly too cheap to hire a regular repairman, and they had tried to do all the patchwork themselves.

Now that she was alone, Freida let out a roar of fury and frustration. She ran over to the roof entrance doorway and started to punch it until her knuckles where purple, trying to get her anger out. Then she pulled out her fans and slashed and stabbed at the door until it looked like a werewolf, rather than a mutated turtle, had attacked it. When she couldn't do it anymore, Freida leaned against the door, panting.

I don't need them, she thought savagely. I can get along just fine on my own! Freida was so full of anger that most of her thoughts were violent and bloodthirsty. She stood there for a bit, washed over in her own profound hatred. But suddenly something else swam into view, an image that she regarded with both anger and confusion. She thought of Raph. His face flashed before her eyes. His expression at first looked blank, but the longer she looked at this picture, the more Freida thought she could see pain and sorrow shining out through his eyes. Her anger ebbed a little. Huh, she thought stubbornly, it's his own fault for following me.

Freida looked out at the city. It was true that she had completely fallen for Raph during the time she and her sisters had been staying with the four boys, but those feelings had now been dampened by the strength of her own violent emotions. Perhaps they weren't meant for each other; perhaps the thing that she had been telling herself during these four weeks- that she and Raph belonged together, that it was destiny- wasn't at all true. If anything, she had ruined any chances that she had with him for good tonight. At this point, Freida didn't know if she cared or not. Being so unsure, made her feel sick with shame. Waves of regret started to lap at her stomach. Freida started to space out, lost with her confused and frustrated thoughts. She didn't notice the silent footsteps that crept up behind her, nor the gentle shing of metal weapons being drawn. Freida wasn't aware that she was not alone on the rooftop. She sighed heavily. What she really wanted to do was to find those Foot ninjas and knock every one of their lights out.

"Yeah!" she said to herself, punching her palm. "I'll go find those jerk-offs and make them pay!" Rejuvenated, Freida turned to find a building she could jump to. Her jaw dropped. More Foot ninjas than she could count were gathered on the roof, poised for the attack. "Aww… crap!" she choked.

Raph had searched for Freida, all over New York's east side, before stopping for a rest. He knelt at the edge of the roof he had stopped at. His heart was beating at a million miles per hour and his breathing came out in sharp gasps. Raph knew that he was overworking himself, but he didn't care. The only thing on his mind was finding Freida. Raph stood up again. His shoulder was still stinging pretty badly, but he ignored it. He turned around to go the other way, when he heard a frightened yell.

"Huh?" He whipped around. The yell had come from across the street. Raph gasped. He saw Freida, running, jumping, and flipping so fast and frantically, that she looked like a frightened grasshopper. She was being pursued across the roof tops by at least eighty Foot ninjas. Raph smacked himself in the head.

Why is it whenever I'm right, bad stuff happens? He thought furiously.

{A few minutes earlier}

Freida was engulfed in a mass of black and grey. She struck out with her fans left, right, and center, not bothering to see whether or not her attacks connected with anyone. There were so many of them…she couldn't see strait. She tried to call for help, but she knew that it was useless. No one would come to get her. She had driven away all those who cared enough to help. Now Freida was on her own. But knowing she couldn't fight them all alone, she had to find a way to run and try to lose them. She looked around frantically as she attempted to fend off her attackers. They were closing in. Freida fought back with all her might, spinning around with her fans extended, until…There! She saw a gap in the immense group of Foot ninjas that surrounded her. Freida whirled around in a triple spinning-kick, creating a wide ring around her. Once she was clear, she jumped up and ran over the heads of the ninjas, and landed on the other side of the mass. Then she ran, ran like she had never run before. She could hear the Foot ninjas following about a yard behind her. She was running so hard that the air threatened to tear from her lungs, but Freida's unusually strong adrenaline, along with her overloaded hormones, kicked in and helped to propel her onward.

{Okay, back to the present}

While he was unable to find anyway to get across the street fast enough, Raph was forced to follow alongside the chase. He ran faster than he thought his respiratory system would allow, searching for a way get across the street without being seen by the hundreds of pedestrians strolling along the sidewalks below. The worst inconvenience was that Freida was probably so pumped full of adrenaline, that she probably had some extra ordinary energy left over. Normally, Raph had the kind stamina that enabled him to go on for hours without tiring. But the fight with Freida had used up a lot of his energy, so he hadn't started his search off on a very good foot. And then he had pretty much burned himself out by running practically all over the city. So now Raph was in one of those rare points in his life where he was feeling the strain of exertion. By the fifth rooftop, Raph's breathing had become harsh and ragged. He even felt his heart skip a beat when he reached the seventh rooftop. It dropped off at the end of the block. Raph skidded to a halt at the edge of the roof. He looked to the building across the street. Freida launched herself off it. But before she had gotten more than halfway to the next building, a Foot ninja hurled a long, rope-like chain at her. It caught her around the ankles. With a heave, the Foot used the chain to snatch Freida out of the air. She slammed into the side of the building before coming to rest next to a weathervane. The ninjas were coming up fast towards her, but Freida didn't try to get away.

Oh no! thought Raph, That fall must have dazed her!

Raph searched frantically for a way to get to Freida. His wandering eyes fell on a telephone line. It was a stretch…but she was well worth the risk. Raph ran forward and launched himself onto the line. It stretched and flung him into the air. Raph pulled out his sai daggers and let loose a ferocious but strangled battle cry.

Freida threw her arms up in front her face as a bulky Foot ninja raised his sword above her head. She heard a terrifying battle cry, a thud, and a then a loud clang! Freida opened her eyes and lowered her arms to see…

"Raph?" Raph was standing in front of her, his sais taking the weight of the sword. Raph's arms shook with the effort of holding his large opponent off. Gritting out a snarl, Raph turned and kicked the ninja in the solar plexus, sending him flying backwards into his comrades.

"Freida! Get up and get out of here!" yelled Raph.

"I can't!" cried Freida, "The chain's too tight!"

"Then untie yourself!" Raph charged into the oncoming crowd of ninjas. He kicked sideways, punched forward, back fisted, stabbed and slashed with his sais, temporarily powered by the combination of adrenaline and a fierce sense of protectiveness. It lasted a good two minutes, but, Raph had run himself so ragged that he just didn't have the strength carry on a good offense, and he started to tire at an alarming rate. Freida tried to untie herself, but the chain was too tight. She took out her fans and started to saw the chain. Meanwhile, Raph's energy level was dropping fast, which meant the power in his strikes also diminished. A skinny Foot ninja saw his enemy weakening, and seized the opportunity to bring him down. He punched Raph's injured shoulder, causing him to cry out and drop his sais. Another ninja sucker-punched him in the stomach. Raph choked and sank to his knees. The ninjas fell upon him.

"Hang on Raph!" yelled Freida. She could hear his cries from the crowd of black dressed figures. After some frantic tugging and sawing, the rope-chain finally snapped. Freida jumped up and ran over to help Raph, her mind racing and her heart pounding. She punched, kicked, and slashed her way through crowd until she reached the center. Raph was still trying to fight, but with minimal success. He looked like he was having trouble standing. A Foot ninja raised his nunchucks above the back of Raph's head. Freida rushed over and used her fans to slice the nunchucks' connecting band in two.

"You stay away from him!" she roared, pressing herself against Raph's shell. She could feel his heartbeat through her own shell, pumping out of control, and she could hear his breathing, gasping and huffing. But Freida was too busy fending off the ninjas in front to her to notice what was going on in front of him.

Raph fought desperately to keep his senses about him. Not only was he feeling dizzy from fatigue, but also he had been dealt two nasty strikes on the sides of his head, and it made his ears ring and caused his vision to blur. It was almost as bad as being drugged by one of those tranquilizer darts. As he felt Freida's shell press against his, Raph put his fists up and tried to fend off his attackers. Out of nowhere, a ninja side-kicked Raph in his grazed shoulder, knocking him sideways into another ninja. That ninja, who was the height of a basketball player, grabbed Raph around the neck and hoisted him in the air.

"Let him go!" cried Freida. She ran forward, but someone tripped her with a bo staff, and then whacked her on the back of the neck. The ninja holding him squeezed Raph's throat. Raph could feel his windpipe close, cutting off his air. He gasped and choked, struggling frantically against his captor. He attempted to pry the ninja's fingers off, but they were like iron. He writhed and kicked, but the lack of oxygen prevented his kicks from carrying any power. Raph's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He couldn't breathe. He needed air. His struggles became feebler and feebler. Freida saw this and started to shout at him, pleading for him to keep trying, tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Raph! Don't give in! Fight! Fight!"

But her voice was so far off, as if she was at the far end of a tunnel instead of a few feet behind him. Dark shadows gathered at the edges of his eyes, and the scene began to fade from Raph's vision. He gave one more jerk, then his hands fell to his sides, and he was still. The ninja chuckled evilly, and then he flung Raph from him. "NO!" cried Freida. He sailed through the air, slammed into a chimney head, landed with a thud at the chimney's base, and didn't get up.

"Raph!" Freida struggled to her feet, but someone hit her hard on the back of the head, and her face was pressed into the concrete. She lay there, stunned, for a short while. When she rose, the ninjas were gone.


	13. Chapter 13: Remorse and Resolution

Chapter 13

Remorse and Resolution

Freida looked around at the now deserted rooftop. Some kind of electrical short circuit at the power station on the edge of the city had caused the streetlamps below to go out. It was so dark that it took a moment for Freida's eyes to adjust. When her gaze fell on Raph's non-moving form, she let out an anguished sob. Freida raced over to where he lay on his side. She knelt down next to him and turned him over on his back. His eyes were closed. Freida checked his pulse. Her heart skipped a few beats. She couldn't find it!

"No…NO!"

But then…Whew! There it was. Raph was alive, but barely.

"Oh Raph," sobbed Freida, her eyes swimming with salty tears. "Oh Raph. I'm so sorry." She bent down and put her cheek over his mouth and nose to check his breathing. It was very, very shallow. Hot tears ran down her cheeks and fell onto his bruised face. "What did I do?" Freida asked herself. "How could I have been so stupid?!" She took a close look at the white slash mark on his shoulder, and winced. It really did look painful. Freida absentmindedly touched the marks on her cheeks. The weight of what she had done crashed down on her like a furious ocean wave. First she had blamed Raph for the Foot's attempt to kill the others, and then she… had attacked, and, injured him. Despite all this, Raph had gone ahead and risked his life to protect her. He had searched for her on his own, and had then disregarded the odds that were obviously set against him, only to end up possibly losing his life. Now her feelings about him had come full circle. Sobbing, Freida bent low over Raph's face and gently kissed his bruised cheek.

"I love you," she whispered, "Hold on, Raph. Please hold on. I'm going to get you home safely."

Back at the lair, both Leo and Joan were pacing all over, heads bent low and frowns creasing their brows. Mikey and Lizzie were sitting on the couch. Don and Cleo were fiddling unenthusiastically with Don's rocket shoe inventions. Splinter sat at the kitchen table, slowly sipping his cup of tea. They were all very worried. Raph had been gone for almost three and a half hours already, so they all assumed, that he hadn't found Freida yet. Or else (no one could bring themselves to voice it )…something terrible had happened to him. Leo had suggested that he go out and look for them, but Don pointed out that, seeing as they didn't know where either of them were, it would probably be a waste of energy and prove to be futile effort as well.

Mikey and Lizzie were absentmindedly watching a show about teenage relationships. Lizzie stared vacantly at a point slightly to the right of the TV. Mikey was also paying less attention than he usually did, but his awareness heightened a bit when he saw a teenage boy and girl in a movie theater. The boy yawned and stretched his arms up, and then brought one arm down around the girl's shoulders. Mikey stole a glance at Lizzie, who was sitting close enough to touch.

Hmm. Mikey yawned, stretched his arms up over his head, and slowly brought his left arm down around Lizzie's shoulders. He waited for her to protest, but she didn't; on the contrary, she snuggled closer to him. Mikey blushed and smiled sheepishly, silently thanking television for using neon marketing. He looked over at Lizzie to see her reaction. To his surprise, she was crying.

"What's up, Liz?" he asked her. Lizzie sniffed.

"I'm…just worried."

"About Freida?" She nodded. Mikey made a sympathetic noise.

"Hey," he said, giving her a quick squeeze, "Don't worry about it. Raph will find her. He found her last time."

"Yeah, but," Lizzie gulped, "but what if, something bad, happens to her? She left all angry and then …(she sniffed)…what if we don't see her again?" her voice trailed off to barely a whisper.

"C'mon, Raph would never let anything bad happen to Freida," Mikey tried to reassure her. "He's one tough turtle. You wouldn't want to get on his bad side, trust me. Plus," he added mischievously, "I think he likes her!" Lizzie giggled. She looked around at him, able to smile now. Mikey smiled back. He longed to say, "The same way I like you," but he just didn't have the guts. He settled for gently wiping away the tears that had by now soaked through her yellow mask and collected on her cheeks. He couldn't really know for sure that she was thinking the exact same thing about him, but he suspected it when she tentatively took his hand in hers.

At that moment, all six turtles and Splinter, heard footsteps coming from the landing near the entranceway.

"Raph?" called Leo, halting in his relentless pacing and looking up. "Raph? Is that you?" There was no answer. He walked over to the bottom of the stairs. In the gloom of the lair's upper level it was hard to see the shape of the figure moving slowly towards the top of the stairs. Leo tried again. "Raph? Did you find Fre…?" Then he stopped in mid-sentence and suddenly inhaled, almost in shock. It wasn't Raph; it was a staggering Freida. She was carrying his unconscious brother on her back, his arms and head slung over her shoulders while her hands and arms supported him. Freida was moving very slowly down the stairs, the stress and the strain of carrying Raph (he was a little bigger than she was) obvious on her face. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she stopped, panting. The others swarmed around them. Since their injuries had proved not to be particularly long lasting, they were quite ready and able to help. Leo and Don quickly took Raph off of Freida's back and carefully carried him over to a small cot that sat in one corner of the room. They lay him gently down on his side. The girls wanted to help Freida, who had collapsed on the floor, over to the couch, but she refused.

"Just get me over there," she choked, indicating where the boys were clustered around Raph. Joan got Freida's arm and slung it over her own shoulders, then heaved her to her feet. She steered her sister over so she could join the others around the cot.

Joan gently set Freida down on the floor next to the cot. She shifted her position so that she was close too Raph's head. Leo and Don were checking his vital signs.

"His pulse was feint when I checked it," said Freida exhaustedly, keeping her eyes fixed on Raph's face. "And his breathing was so shallow."

"Well, then it seems as if nothing's changed," said Don grimly. "His pulse is just barely there."

"How long has he been out?" asked Leo.

"About half an hour," answered Freida.

"Oh Man!" Leo sighed.

"What happened?" asked Splinter. "Who did this?" Freida told them everything as best she could, right up to the Foot's disappearance.

"Is he going to be okay?" Leo asked Don.

Don looked down worriedly.

"I can't say," he replied. "Like Freida said, he lost a lot of oxygen, and he suffered some head trauma. It could be anywhere from a few hours, to several days, before he wakes up. Depending on how long it takes for his body reoxygenate itself, and how many brain cells were damaged." His bleak tone told them that Don hated to report this news. Cleo put a hand on his shoulder.

"Until Raphael wakes up, we will not return to the surface," said Splinter. Then he added, "Or at least until we can discover what our enemy is planning." They all nodded somberly.

Freida stood up and stalked off to the weight room. Joan, concerned, followed her out. When she entered the room, she found her sister in one corner, trying to beat the tar out of a black sandbag and positively crying her eyes out.

"Freida," said Joan. Freida couldn't acknowledge her older sister's presence; she just kept on flinging all of her fury out on the sandbag, making angry noises with each strike. "Freida, don't," said Joan, crossing the room and standing behind her. "Don't. You'll hurt yourself."

"I. -Don't.- Care!" snarled Freida, punctuating each word with a punch or kick. "I.- Am.- Such.- An.- Idiot!"

"You did everything you could," said Joan gently. "You brought him back to his family. You did good."

"I.- Attacked.- Him!" Freida's voice cracked. "I.- Hurt.- Him!" She snatched one of her fans from her belt, and with choked roar, slashed the sandbag open. Beads cascaded out of the opening in a great rattling torrent.

"Freida!" gasped Joan. Freida dropped her fan, then turned and punched the wall so hard, a crack appeared. A shudder ran up and down her arm as her strong bones absorbed the shock. She drew her hand back to her side, gasped, and collapsed onto her knees, sobbing heavily. "They almost killed him. Raph almost died because of me!" Freida put her face in her hands, her body was quaking with sobs. Joan kneeled beside her and patted her arm.

"You brought him back, Freida. You made amends by bringing him back. I'm sure he'll be fine." This wasn't entirely true; Joan had no measure for how long someone could be unconscious.

"I won't have made amends until I can look into his eyes again," said Freida shakily. "I won't ever forgive myself for doing this. Never!"

"Shhh," Joan hushed her. She put her arms around her trembling sister and hugged her for a good, long time.

Leo didn't go up to bed. Instead, he pulled up a chair and kept a vigil over his unconscious brother. He remembered having done the same thing, a few years ago, when the Foot had ambushed Raph. On that occasion, Raph had woken up, about three days after the attack. Leo was willing to wait as long as it took this time too. He looked around the lair. The girls were sleeping soundly on the floor and the couch. Freida, who had remained beside the cot, had fallen asleep sitting up, her chin on her chest, snoring loudly. Leo had guessed that she harbored feelings for his brother, just as he himself had the same type of feelings for Joan. He sighed.

A voice came from the shadows.

"Can't sleep?" Leo turned around. Joan was up on her mat, a tired and sorrowed look about her face.

"No," he answered worriedly.

"Me either." said Joan. She stood up and walked over to where he was sitting. In spite of the gravity of the situation, Leo felt the seemingly always-persistent butterflies take flight inside his stomach. They really started to dance when Joan put her hands on his shoulders.

"You're really tense," she said concernedly. Leo chuckled a little self-consciously.

"You can tell that by touching my shoulders?" he asked.

"Sort of," replied Joan. "I use my chi to detect things like that. I can feel that your chakras are way out of alignment."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I can help with that too." She started to massage his shoulders. Leo relaxed instantly under her soft touch. He felt the lead weight that had settled on his spinal cord, right between his shoulders, lift. He sighed deeply. "That's it…..," said Joan, running her hands down his arms. "Coming back into alignment and reconnecting with the universe." She wrapped her arms around him. "All better?"

"Much," replied Leo. Now, he blushed, and she did, a little, as well.

"You know, worry causes stress, and stress throws your chakras out of alignment. That'll cause you get sick."

"I just can't help it. I care about him too much not to worry."

"I know." She paused for a moment. "It's just…I don't like seeing you unhappy," she said finally. They were silent for a bit, and then Joan sighed. "Try not to worry, he'll be fine. He's got you." She gave him a quick squeeze, and then she went back to bed. Leo looked after her. What she said, had really touched him. Did she feel the same way he did?

Two more days passed and Raph still remained in a coma. Leo was always at his side, leaving only to get water. None of the others bothered him about it; they understood. Freida also spent most of her time beside the cot, locked in a kind of waiting stupor. She still blamed herself completely for what had happened to him, and she wanted to make her amends, by making sure that she was there when he woke up…if he ….. No! She wouldn't go there! It had to be, when, he woke up!

On the evening of the second day, Freida absentmindedly reached behind her head to tighten the knot on her mask. As she lifted the two ribbons of black fabric, Cleo spotted something peculiar on the back of Freida's neck. It was a little round disc about the size of a quarter, with little arms spanning out from its body. A little green light was blinking soundlessly in the middle of the body.

"Hey," said Cleo, reaching down and touching the thing, "What's this?"

"Cleo!" exclaimed Freida, grabbing Cleo's wrist. "Can I help you?"

"Sorry," said Cleo, "but you've got a bug."

"A bug?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've really been bugged!"

"Bugged?!" Freida jumped up in alarm. She frantically felt the back of her neck. When she found the bug, she yanked it off, took one look at it, let out a cry of alarm, and hurled against the opposite wall, where it hit with smack.

"Hey!" protested Cleo. "I wanted to analyze that!"

"Don't worry Cleo," said Don, walking over and picking up the bug, "It's not beyond repair." He brought the bug over to her. "It's definitely a tracking device," he said, examining the pieces closely. At the sound of the words "tracking device" everyone looked up tensely.

"How did this get on you?" asked Cleo.

"I don't know," said Freida. "One of those Foot ninjas whacked me on the back of the neck with a bo staff; maybe it had the tracer on it."

"Wait, you think, the Foot, put a tracking device on you?" asked Leo in alarm.

"Does that mean they know where we are?" asked Mikey anxiously.

"Not necessarily," said Don. He turned on a computer, plugged in a program-sensory magnifying glass, and ran it over the tracer. Calculations and estimations appeared on the computer screen. "No," said Don, looking closely at the results, "no, they don't know where we are. They haven't even bothered to look." Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"See if you can bounce the signal at them," suggested Cleo from over Don's shoulder. Don typed in a code.

"What good's that going to do?" asked Joan.

"It'll show us where the Foot are," said Don. A 3D picture showed up on the screen. It showed a layout of the city. A section was illuminated, and then showed close up.

"They're in a factory on the outskirts of the theater district," said Cleo.

"Excellent!" said Mikey, jumping up and punching the air. "Let's go get those creeps right now!"

"Yeah!" said Lizzie enthusiastically, "While we still have the element of surprise!" She waved her hands around in an excited manner, as if she was trying to create a draft. Leo and Joan were less enthusiastic.

"What if this is all a trap?" asked Joan. "What if they know that we've figured out how to find them using the tracer?"

"They could be waiting for us to show up," added Leo. "It's too risky."

Freida stood up, with a look of menace etched upon her face.

"I'm all for going," she said fiercely, "I've got a score to settle with those

wanna-be ninjas."

"But we can't do it without Raph," said Leo sadly. Splinter cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him.

"I think perhaps we should consider the fact that the Foot could use that device to find us," he said. "If we do not seize this opportunity, I fear that they may be able to infiltrate our home."

"Yeah," said Mikey, "We should get them before they get us!"

"But," began Leo, looking over at Raph, "What about…?"

"I will stay to watch over Raphael," said Splinter.

The turtles' target was on the edge of the theater district was in an old hardware assembly factory that had been shut down months ago. It was surrounded by a high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, something many people thought unnecessary. Tall smoke exhaust towers dominated one section of the building, while windows and air vents lined the other section. The building was at least four stories high, with dozens of windows lining the top edge just below the flat roof. It's paint-less concrete exterior and the flickering of inner lights made the place bleak, and foreboding in the night time.

The turtles' approach to the factory was cautious and slow. They surveyed every angle of the building before climbing up the wall to the roof. They found a loose air vent that stood above the factory's main product-assembly room. They pried it off and peeked inside. There wasn't anyone in sight. Once by one, the seven of them dropped down into the large room. They stood back to back, their eyes darting all around, searching for any sign of movement. In the flickering light from fluorescent lamps hanging from the ceiling, they could see double levels of conveyer belts, long extinguished incinerators, and rust covered metal compressors. The place seemed to be deserted.

"There's no one here," said Mikey.

"I don't know," said Leo warily. "I've got a bad feeling about all this. It feels like this whole thing is a…"

"Trap?" finished a voice. The turtles glanced around, startled. There was a whistling sound, like pieces of metal soaring through the air. Then there were cries of alarm and pain. Seconds later, the turtles found themselves hanging from shackle-like handcuffs (which had been attached to the wall) by their wrists.

"What the…?" The turtles struggled against their iron bonds. They yanked their arms down and kicked the wall, trying to generate enough force to snap the cuffs, but no dice.

"Guess you were right, Leo," said Freida, her teeth clenched, "This was all a trap."

"Whoever engeneered these," said Don, "must have designed them specifically for us."

"How right you are," said the voice.

"Whose out there?" called Leo. "Show yourself!" A shadow approached them out of the darkness of the room. As it came closer, they saw that it was actually a young woman, probably in her late twenties. She was wearing a black ninja suit with an armor chest plate fastened to the front. Her face was conceiled by a red and silver facemask. The hood of a long black cape covered her short black hair, and the hilt of a katana could be seen behind her back. The boys recognized her at once. It was Karai, leader of the Foot Clan.

"Welcome," said Karai, her husky, Chinese accented voice tinged with amusement. "Forgive me if I stare, I almost could not differentiate between the seven of you." She laughed. "When my ninja reported that there were other turtles, I did not expect the resemblence to be so strong. The four of you are just as strange looking as the others."

"Hey! What happened to the respect?" asked Don indignently.

"Well we're so glad that you are satisfied with what you see," said Freida sarcastically.

Karai ignored her.

"My ninja may have been unsuccessful in eliminating you, but at least, I see, they removed one of your number from the picture." Her voice sounded smug.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Raph!" snarled Leo.

"Will I?" Karai laughed again. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about my own life at the moment."

At first, all Raph could see was black. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids wouldn't move. His arms and legs were like lead, and his chest felt like it was filled with rocks. But, slowly, it all started to clear. The cement shutters that had settled on his eyelids eventually lifted. The dark haze swirling around his head began to disapate. But, Raph still felt powerless, as if he was trapped inside his own body. Flashing images began to appear before his eyes. The roof…the Foot…Freida…Freida! What had happened to her? Was she all right? He had to know. Raph willed himself to try and get out of this…this void. It was like being stuck at the bottom of a lake, weighed down by something heavy.

Wake up, Raphael! he thought furiously. Wake up! Wake up…He felt himself fading. No! he thought. No! Wake up…wake up…wake up…Freida…please be alright…Freida…

Raph's eyes flickered open. His vision was blurred at first, but eventually it cleared. He saw that he was back at the lair, lying on a cot. And someone was sitting next to him, elevated in a chair.

"Master Splinter?" Splinter looked down at him. His face brightened with happy surprise.

"Raphael!" He took Raph's arm and carefully helped him into a sitting position. They embraced warmly. "Thank goodness! We were so worried about you, my son."

"I'm fine,"said Raph, a little untruthfully. He was extremely sore, especially in his stomach and shoulder. But none of that mattered to him now. Right now Raph felt a vivacious energy flowing through him, flooding his limbs and joints. "How long was I out?" he asked.

"Two days," said Splinter. "Freida brought you home."

"Freida?" asked Raph. "So she's not hurt? She's okay?"

"Frieda is just fine," replied Splinter. "She and Leonardo never left your side." Raph sighed.

"So, where is everyone?" he asked.

"Cleopatra and Donatello discovered that the Foot had placed a tracking device on Freida. The girls and your brothers have gone to confront them." Raph nodded.

"Well, guess I better get going." He stood up, but swayed dangerously. Splinter quickly stood up and steadied him.

"You are too weak to fight."

"I can't just sit here!"

"You pushed yourself much too hard that night," said Splinter, " I'm sure even you can tell that"

"Okay, okay," said Raph, sitting back down on the cot. "I over did it a bit. But, I couldn't let anything happen to…to…" His voice trailed off. Raph was too embarrassed to go on.

"To Freida?" asked Splinter, fixing his adopted son with a knowledgeable gaze, looking as if he had already figured out the answer.

"I…well…It's really that obvious, is it?" asked Raph. He hung his head dejectedly. He never could conceal how he felt, whenever he talked to Splinter.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," replied Splinter. Seeing the look on Raph's face, he put a clawed hand carefully on his arm. "You should never think that you have to hide your feelings, Raphael," he said consolingly. "I know that you have always felt it necessary, but feelings are not a matter that should be kept quiet."

"But…Freida…What if…What if she doesn't feel… the same way I do?" asked Raph. Splinter cocked an eyebrow.

"Raphael, you have always put a good portion of your very being into caring about your friends and family, and yet you doubt that the one person for whom you have developed different, yet just as powerful feelings, will care for you?" Raph looked up guiltily. "Feelings of the heart are nothing to be ashamed about, Raphael!" Splinter said firmly. He looked Raph squarely in the eyes. "Tell me truly, my son. Do you love Freida?" Raph blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected to be asked THAT question. After all, he thought, Splinter already knew the answer. But, Raph supposed, his mentor needed to hear him say it. The answer came to him immediately.

"Yes, yes I do. I love her, more than anyone will ever know." Splinter smiled.

"Then, if Freida is truly the turtle that we have been allowing to stay with us for all this time, she will have already admitted to herself how she feels about you. All you have to do is tell her." Splinter laughed. "In fact, I will not be surprised if all her sisters, and all your brothers, feel just the same way about each other!" Raph laughed. "I've been thinking pretty much the same thing. Well, we'll just have to see who says what." He stood up, this time, keeping his balance quite well. "I'll be back, this time with everyone."

The other turtles watched helplessly as swarms of Foot ninjas wheeled in three large lasers into the assembly room, placing them in a line. Each laser was stationed about ten feet from the other.

"You see," explained Karai, "The pulse cannons that Yoshihro Suzuki designed were simply proto-types of these lasers." She gestured at the machines. "They can deliver a beam equal to over 100,000 Megawatts; enough to cause a city-wide blackout. Or," she smiled evilly, "more than enough to pretty much vaporize the remaining seven of you in one blast!" Karai signaled the assembled ninjas. They clicked on the machines. An eerie glow lit up each laser as they began to power up. The turtles gulped. They didn't see any way they could get out of this situation. They closed their eyes and braced themselves.

Suddenly, something large and curved came hurtling out of the darkness above the fluorescent lamps. There was a sound of cracking metal, and the handcuffs split and the turtles dropped to the floor. Someone dropped down in front of them. He raised his hand to catch the large shurikan that had whizzed through the air and cut the shackles.

"Hope you don't mind me cutting in," said the rescuer, in a familiar deep, rough, Brooklyn-accented voice. He turned his head. It was Raph, a large grin spreading across his face. "But I hate it that you guys went and started the party without me."

"Raph!" they all exclaimed. The boys ran foreward to hug and clap him on the shell.

"Man we missed you," murmured Leo, hugging his brother tightly.

"You too bro," Raph murmured back. They released each other, allowing the girls to give him friendly, relieved hugs. Freida, however, hung back. Raph looked up at her, and their eyes locked for a breif moment. Then Freida ran forward and threw her arms around him. Raph returned her hug gratefully.

"I'm sorry," whispered Freida.

"Don't worry about it," said Raph quietly.

"Guys?" said Don apprehensively, "You might want to pay attention to the situation at hand!"

Don was right. Being freed from their bonds had put the turtles in a much improved a situation. But because of the old maxim, location, location, location….. now they had to worry about both the legion of Foot ninja and the lasers.

"Okay," said Leo, trying to sound confident. "I have a plan. Donny, Cleo, you two disarm the lasers, while the rest of us deal with the Foot. I'll take Karai."

"You're the boss!" said Cleo.

"Alright!" said Leo, drawing his swords. "Ready." The rest of them drew their weapons. "Set." They stepped into fighting stances. "Go!" They surged foreward.

Frankly, the situation couldn't have looked much more desperate. The turtles had to pull out all the stops, using every single move they knew, just to keep the Foot from overwhelming them. Meanwhile, Don and Cleo had their hands full trying to figure out how to disable the three lasers. They had found the security in the system wasn't as layered as the pulse cannon's was, but it was more heavily guarded and sophisticated, so it was taking the two of them a while to figure everything out.

But then again, the turtles also had an edge. Now that Freida was fully focused and Raph was back in action, the teamwork couldn't have been better. They boys and the girls put together their combo and family attacks to let out an array of moves that they could never have done on their own. This let Leo square off with Karai without interference. The sound of their swords clashing together rang throughout the factory.

"You fools don't know when to quit, do you?" snarled Karai, her single sword locked with Leo's two swords.

"Well, you know what they say about teenagers," said Leo, kicking Karai hard in the solar plexus, " 'in one ear, out the other'!" Then he kicked her three more times, sending her flying into a conveyer belt. When she struggled to her feet, Leo saw a long jagged crack appear down the middle of her mask. It slipped, fell off her face, and broke in half on the floor, revealing her thin, pallid face, her pointed chin, her sunken cheeks, her large, almond shaped brown eyes, and her naturally blood-red lips.

"You haven't fully grasped the situation, Leonardo," breathed Karai.

"Well I never did see the point of all your stupid plots," sneered Leo, "but I've gathered that for some weird reason, you want to cause a city-wide blackout."

"But do you know why?" asked Karai. Leo didn't answer. To be quite honest, he had no idea why. "If you recall, the last time we met, I stated that we would have business involving familiar faces from your past." Leo froze. Now he was listening. Karai had said these words a month or so previous. The boys had suspected that this had something to do with their old fallen enemy, the Shredder.

"But, you don't mean…" stammered Leo.

"Yes!" laughed Karai, seeing him start to weaken. "Our master has returned."

"But, the Shredder's dead!" cried Leo, horrorstruck at what he was hearing. "We defeated him! I saw him die!"

"He lives again, foolish creature," hissed Karai fiercely. "This blackout will give us enough power to restore him to full strength!" Leo shook himself.

"Then I'll just have to make sure that that blackout doesn't happen!" he shouted. He lunghed at Karai.

"Come on Donny!" urged Cleo, glancing around at the fight taking place just feet in front of them.

"Good things come to those who wait, Cleo!" Don said patiently as he continued to try to hack his way through the laser's security. Right then a throwing star whizzed past Cleo's nose.

"D-aaaawwwwnnn!" cried Cleo.

"You're not helllll-ping!" Don responded, just as a ninja ran up and swung at Cleo with an ax. She dodged, drawing her sabers. "Could you please take care of that? I'm a little busy!" he continued.

"Oh, sure, Don! No problem!" Cleo blocked another swing from the ninja's ax with both sabers. She jumped and spun in mid-air, slamming her heel into the ninja's neck. He tried to hit her while she was still in the air, but she dropped down quickly. Again, he swung with his ax, and she was forced to block it away with both sabers. He brought the end of the handle up and struck Cleo solidly under her jaw. She flew backwards and landed heavily a few feet away.

"You okay back there?" asked Don over his shoulder.

"Fine!" replied Cleo shrilly. The ninja ran over, his ax raised. Cleo rolled onto her side and kicked upward, between his legs. The ninja gasped and dropped his ax, clenching his legs together and trying desperately not to scream. Cleo jumped up and front kicked him directly in the nose, throwing him backwards across the room where he curled up helplessly in to ball. Cleo swished her sabers elegantly in to an X, and then tucked them back underneath her belt. She ran over and stood panting behind Don.

"Come on!" urged Cleo, " there has got to be a faster way in to the system!" she went on frantically.

"I'm trying to find one!" answered Don. "It's not like I can just override this stuff

automatically!" The two of them suddenly looked at each other and something clicked.

"Automatic Override Chip!" they exclaimed simultaneously. Cleo pulled the chip out of a pouch attached to her belt. Don took it with a grin and slid it into an empty RAM slot behind an access panel in the side of the laser. The machine's laser gun hissed and moaned like it was suddenly ill, then it died.

"Yes!" They cried ,slapping each other a high-three.

"Let's have a go at the other two," said Don. Cleo began to reach into her pouch. Her eyes widened.

"Uh-oh," she said, groping around in the pouch

"What's 'Uh-oh'?" asked Don.

"I don't have any more chips!"

"What do you mean you don't have any more chips?"

"I didn't think to pack more than one!"

Don groaned and smacked himself in the head. But then, a light bulb clicked on in his brain.

"Wait, we might be able to make this work!"

"How?"

"The override chips can function on multiple frequencies, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, if we can redirect this chips programmed radio signal from this laser's computer to the other two's, then we can shut them both down!"

"But we'd have to provide a direct relay in order to channel the waves."

"We could use your sabers." But as he said this, Don's more sensible side flashed a warning signal. "Oh no!…No, we can't do that!" he said.

"Why not?" asked Cleo. "It's perfect!"

"But if you were holding the sabers while they are channeling the wave," said Don nervously, "Any excess electricity could jump to ground, through you, and you'd be electrocuted."

Cleo blinked.

"You could isolate me," she said.

"What?"

"If you held on to your staff, with me on it, and balanced your self, on your shell, off of the ground with the other, you could isolate me so that the electricity wouldn't harm either of us." Don thought for a moment; there was a possibility that Cleo's plan could go horribly wrong. But he supposed they had no other choice.

"Okay," he agreed. "You'll have to use one saber to channel the frequency, and aim the other one at the other two lasers, so that the signal knows where to go." Don took out his bo staff and lay on his back on the floor. He tucked his legs, arms, and head up close to his body, so that only his shell touched the ground. He held the end of his staff just above his chest, so that it stuck up in the air like a light pole. When he signaled that he was ready, Cleo carefully hooked her legs around the staff and perched herself on the tip that was in the air. Don grunted as his wrists and arms shook slightly from taking all of Cleo's weight. Cleo pulled out her sabers and extended her left arm, so that her left saber was pointing directly at the laser to the right of the one they had just killed. She held the other saber just in front of the dead laser's side. None of the other Foot ninjas tried to intervene, because the other turtles had seen what Don and Cleo were doing before the ninjas did. They were now doing their best to distract their opponents while the two geniuses worked.

"So, I just stick it in here?" Cleo asked, indicating the RAM slot.

"Yes," answered Don shakily, his voice tight from the strain of holding her suspended. "The metal in the blade should redirect the flow of the wave."

"Okay," said Cleo nervously. She looked down at him. "You ready?" Don looked up at her. He could tell that she was scared. He smiled crookedly. "Don't worry, I've got you." Cleo nodded. Then she turned back to the laser. With a grunt, she jammed the blade of the saber into the slot. There was a spark of light and a buzzing sound. Don saw Cleo close her eyes and grit her teeth as the excess electricity carrying the wave passed through her body. But she held on steadily and the wave passed through her saber safely. The laser she was aiming at whined and sparked, then died.

"Good! Now aim at the other one, quickly!" said Don. Cleo quickly bent her left elbow and pointed her left saber under her chin, so that it now pointed at the laser on the other side of the first one. Cleo shuddered again as the wave-carrying electricity passed through her.

But, something went wrong. From the RAM slot where Cleo held her other saber, there came a loud zapping sound and a flash of light, and Don and Cleo were thrown backward into a wall. Behind the laser, a Foot ninja started at the sound of the malfunction. But before he had even begun to turn his head, Joan jabbed him in the gut with the end of her spear shaft.

Don shook his head and sat up. If he and Cleo had still had hair, it would undoubtedly be standing up.

"Whew!" he said, rubbing the back of his head. "That's what I call a head rush!" He looked around. The Foot were too distracted by the other turtles to notice what had happened. "Cleo, you did it!" exclaimed Don, now staring at the damaged lasers. "It…Cleo?" he looked down beside him. Cleo was lying on her back, her eyes wide open, and glassy. "Cleo!" Don checked her vital signs. He gasped. Her pulse was gone, and her breathing had stopped. The excess electricity had stopped her heart.

"Oh no! No! Cleo, no!" Don's mind was racing. He had to do C.P.R., it was the only way; he was not going to let Cleo die. Carefully, Don pressed down, hard, on her chest thirty times, then breathed into her mouth twice. Don repeated these steps three times, but nothing happened. His eyes started to tear. "No. Don't go Cleo," Don pleaded quietly. "Please. Don't go." But on the fourth attempt, Cleo's eyes flickered shut. She breathed in deeply, and then coughed a couple times. Don let out something that sounded like a combination of a whistle and a sob. He gently cradled her in his arms.

"I was wrong," choked Cleo.

"What?"

"My isolation idea didn't really work.." Don chuckled.

The Foot backed the rest of the turtles against the wall, where Don sat holding the dazed Cleo.

"What happened?" hissed Joan.

"She was electrocuted," said Don from the floor.

"Is she alright?"

"She's fine."

"Well, you two did a good job in getting rid of the lasers," said Leo. "Now we've just have to get rid of these guys." The turtles had managed to take out considerable numbers of ninja, but the ten that were left were all big, hulky guys with wicked-looking weapons, and Karai.

"Any bright ideas?" asked Freida. Everyone's minds were working frantically.

"You girls ever try a chain-attack?" asked Leo.

"You mean when we form a line and try to bowl them over?" asked Joan.

"Yep."

"Let's do it!"

The turtles put their weapons away and formed a horizontal line. They then clasped hands: Joan took Leo's hand, Leo took Raph's hand, Raph took Freida's hand, Freida took Lizzie's hand, Lizzie took Mikey's hand, and Mikey took Don's hand. Cleo pulled herself into a sitting position and held her remaining saber in a twitching hand. When everyone signaled their readiness, the turtles ran foreward, jumped into the air, and landed right on top of the first eight ninjas, who let out cries of pain before dropping to the floor. Karai lunged at Raph with her sword, but he caught the blade and pulled her down, where her face connected with his elbow. She slumped down to the floor, soon followed by the last ninja, whom Leo had knocked out with a high side-kick.

"Ha-ha! The turtles win again dudes!" laughed Mikey, looking around at the unconscious bodies strewn across the whole room. Cleo stood up and walked over to the first laser. Everyone noticed that she was walking very oddly, in a kind of twitching manner. It was most likely a result of being shocked. She took off one of her wristbands and wrapped it around the protruding hilt of her saber. She pulled on it, hard, and it came free of the slot.

"There we go," she said, knocking the saber on the floor. She then picked it up, tucked it in her belt and put her wristband back on.

"Are you alright Cleo?" asked Joan.

"I'll be fine," replied Cleo, "thanks to Donatello." She smiled broadly at Don. He smiled back, blushing furiously. Mikey snorted, and Lizzie giggled.

As they turned to leave, Karai slowly eased herself up from the floor where she had fallen. A black spot was gathering around her right eye. She breathed quietly and furiously. She was not going to let her enemies escape this easily, not when they were still within her grasp. Slowly and deliberately, she picked up a sword and crept catlike up behind Lizzie. She made up her mind in a split second.

The turtles heard a frightened yell from behind them, followed by the sounds of a scuffle. They whipped around to see Karai clutching Lizzie by the back of the shell, holding a long katana sword up under girl turtle's jaw. The others let out a cry of alarm and began to run toward them.

"Stay were you are!" shouted Karai. She grabbed the back of Lizzie's mask and pulled her head backwards, so that the others could clearly see the silver blade of the katana against the green skin. The turtles skidded to a halt a few feet in front of the two of them. They saw Lizzie's sickles lying on the floor, no doubt wrestled from her grip and discarded. Karai's eyes were so wide and full of crazy malice that she looked deranged. "Drop your weapons!" she barked. The turtles hesitated. Karai pressed the blade closer to Lizzie's throat. Lizzie whimpered. Mikey gasped and threw his nunchucks down on the ground, his hands shaking. The others followed his example, and the clang of their weapons dropping to the floor echoed throughout the room.

"Let her go," said Leo steadily. "Your quarrel is with us, not with them." They all knew that he was referring to the girls as "them". Karai laughed.

"You freaks are all the same," she said quietly. "One less only means even less complication. If the rest of you want this one to live, you will give yourselves up." She smiled evilly. "But if not…" She jerked Lizzie's head and moved the sword a bit, so that the hilt was close to the edge of her windpipe. "I will slit her throat."

"NO!" Mikey ran forward, but Leo threw an arm out to stop him, holding him back. Mikey reached out towards Lizzie, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. "Please! Don't hurt her!" Lizzie sobbed.

"Mikey…" She bent her elbow and reached towards the direction of his voice, because she couldn't see where he was.

"Leo!" Mikey cried desperately, glancing towards his older brother, who still held him back. "Please! Do something! Don't let her hurt Lizzie!"

"Hush," said Leo quietly. He looked around at the others, braced and ready to spring. They silently stepped back. Joan looked around at him, her eyes full of pleading. Leo looked back at Karai. He knew she was serious. "Alright," he said finally, "We give." Leo knelt down, pulling Mikey down with him. The others followed their lead. Karai edged towards them, pushing Lizzie in front of her and keeping a firm grip on her mask, moving at the speed of a snail.

Leo carefully placed a finger on the floor beside him, and started tapping quietly on the concrete with his fingernail. The others were close enough to hear the taps, and realized he was doing them in a pattern: a series of short taps and long taps that they recognized as Morse code. They all understood Morse code, and listened carefully to what Leo was telling them.

How well can you girls see in the dark? Joan was the one to answer, tapping her thumb in a pattern of short and long taps.

Pretty good, why?

I have a plan. Raph, do you still know how to chuck throwing stars from the ground?

Raph tapped an answer.

Yeah, where do you want me to throw them?

At the light panels. Then Leo added as an afterthought, Naturally.

Right. Cover me.

Don, Leo, Mikey, Joan, and Freida scooted over so that they were directly in front of Raph, shielding him from view. Raph rolled onto his back. Cleo handed him three throwing stars from the pouch on her belt. He aimed carefully at the three fluorescent light panels that were fastened right above their heads. With precision and accuracy that had taken him years to develop, Raph chucked the throwing stars up into the light panels. They buzzed and flashed, and then it was black.

In the darkness, Lizzie heard Karai roar in fury behind her. She quickly back fist punched the evil woman in the face, and slipped out from behind the sword that had been held up against her windpipe. Lizzie pivoted and kicked out sideways, feeling her foot connect solidly with Karai's face. She heard as much as felt her enemy crumble to the floor. She then stumbled forward, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the pitch blackness (didn't take too long). Lizzie felt her foot brush against something cold and hard. She looked down to see her sickles lying sadly at her feet. She picked them up and tucked them in her belt, when suddenly she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. Lizzie jumped and whipped around to see Mikey grinning at her from about a foot away.

"Mikey!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. He hugged her back for a bit, then the two of them let go.

"C'mon," he said. "Let's find the others." The two of them crept like shadows through the dark until they had joined up with the rest of the turtles. They all held hands so that no one would get lost.

"Everyone okay?" asked Leo in a loud whisper. "Lizzie?"

"I'm fine," said Lizzie.

"Okay. Let's get out of here." And the eight of them left the factory in darkness


	14. Chapter 14: Coming out of the Shell

Chapter 14

Coming out of the Shell

Everyone was tired and eager to get back to the lair, so they decided to just find the nearest manhole and take the long way through the sewers. The atmosphere between them all was thick with euphoria as they chatted happily about this night's battle. All except Raph. He was keeping quiet, trying to figure out some kind of plan, now that he was faced with the task of confessing his feelings to Freida. He was so nervous that his mind went blank whenever he tried to summon up something to say to her that would be able to communicate his seemingly un-communicate able feelings. Finally he came to a decision. As the group neared the lair, Raph pulled Freida aside.

"What's up?" asked Freida. Raph gulped. His confidence again vanished completely now that he was faced with Freida's shining tree bark brown eyes. His throat felt constricted, and his heart was pounding so hard and loud that it seemed to obscure the laughter of the others up ahead. Freida waited patiently as Raph had a little private panic attack.

I'm so not ready for this! He thought frantically. She'll think I'm such a loser! Raph closed his eyes and willed himself to calm down. He took a deep breath.

"Freida…"

"Yes?"

"There's something…I've been wanting to tell you."

"Okay, shoot."

"Uh…" Raph gulped again. There was absolutely no way that he could put what was on his mind into comprehendible words. "Uh…I don't know how I'm gonna say this. I've always had such a hard time explaining my feelings to people." Moron! he scolded himself. Don't make excuses! Just tell her! "I…Okay .. I…Um." He was tripping over his words now. "Listen. These past few weeks, you and I have been spending a lot of time together."

"Yeah, I know," said Freida, smiling. "You're really nice to talk to."

"Right, uh, thanks," stammered Raph. "Anyway, spending time with you has…made me feel…a lot more different than I usually do." Lame! he scolded himself again.

"What do you mean?" asked Freida. Raph noticed a slight change in her voice; it was a little higher, like it got whenever she was worried about something.

"I…I…" Raph was stuttering horribly now. Say it you idiot! Say it! "I…Aw the heck with it!" he growled. Freida started a bit at his tone. "I've been feeling so weird lately," he explained, his voice rising a few notes. "I feel like my chest is gonna burst any second now; like I'm just gonna lay down and die, right now. Just die." Freida looked worried. "It's like I'm sick with a bad cold, or…or something. I can't take it. It's too much!" Freida made a sympathetic noise.

"Are you sick? Is it something you ate?" she asked.

"No! No, it's not like that," said Raph slowly. Freida tilted her head in confusion.

"It…it's a good feeling, actually." he stammered.

"A good feeling?"

"Yeah. Not really sick, more like…. It's kind of like the rush I get when I jump off a building. It's like some huge butterflies are having a party inside me! It's so uplifting, so neat! Raph exhaled loudly. "And, you know what?"

"What?"

"It's all happening because of you."

Freida gasped.

"Wh…What?" Now her voice was really high; so unlike her.

"This feeling only happens whenever I'm around you."

"Me?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Every time I see you, it happens all over again. When I feel this way, all I want to do is to be with you, Freida. It's like I need be with you. When I'm not with you, I can't get you out of my head!" Freida's eyes became very shiny. Raph's face suddenly darkened. "When you tried to fight me, I don't know what happened. It was weird. I just couldn't fight you. I didn't want to hurt you." Raph put a hand over his eyes. "When you scratched my shoulder…" Freida winced. "The way you looked at me…I thought my chest had been torn open and set on fire! That one look you gave me, hurt more than anything I've every come up against. But still, I wanted to protect you. That's why I followed you. I couldn't think of what would happen to me if you got hurt." He couldn't see the silent tears that slid down Freida's face. Raph's voice got quieter, with no less amout of emotion. "I'd do anything for you, Freida. If something happened to you…I don't know what I'd do." Freida breathed in softly.

"Raph, I…" but Raph cut her off.

"If you stop me now we'll be here all night." He chuckled. "Freida, I…"

"Raph, don't," she said, turning her face away from his. He moved in towards her, but she put a hand up to his chest and held him back. "Don't...say anymore," she said quietly, her voice trembling. "I know what you're going to say, but you shouldn't. You don't...I'm not good for you...You deserve better..."

"Shut up," said Raph gruffly. Freida looked at him for a second, then turned away again, her bottom jaw trembling. Slowly, Raph put a hand on top of the one Freida held to his chest, and gently took it off. He clasped her hand in his, holding it close to his cheek. Freida opened her eyes and looked into his.

"Freida, I love you." Freida let out a tiny sob. "But, if you don't…you know; feel the same way about me, all you have to do is tell me. Say it, and I'll leave you alone for good." Just saying the words caused him grief, but he shook it off. "I just have to know. Freida, Please tell me." Raph released Freida's hand. Still crying, she slowly brought it down to rest over her heart. He waited. Eventually her tears ceased, and she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, smiling. In one swift motion, Freida stepped forward, placed her hands of either side of Raph's face, and pecked him lightly on the cheek. Then she stood back, smiling broadly. It had happened so fast that Raph was temporarily stunned. He blinked several times, and shook his head, bewildered.

"Wh…What?" he stuttered, unable to fathom what had just happened.

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" asked Freida teasingly.

"It might help," said Raph. Freida giggled. She took another step forward, so that the two of them were within inches of each other. "I love you too, Raphael," she whispered. Raph's eyes widened.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," said Freida. "Everything you just said to me…I've been feeling the same way. On the roof, when the Foot attacked…," her voice quivered a bit, "I thought I'd lost you."

It took a moment, but within seconds, a smile was spreading across his face.

"Lost me? Are you nuts?" he laughed. Freida frowned, confused. Raph smiled tenderly down at her. "You couldn't lose me if you tried." Freida gasped, then smiled back. Raph put his arms around her sides, and she placed her hands on his shoulders. Finally, after almost a month or so of hidden feelings and painful tension, Raph and Freida kissed.

Hold on. Before you get all grossed out, just remember: they're not humans, so they don't need to kiss like humans. For them, a really long peck-kiss was just fine. If you don't know what a peck-kiss is, go and ask your mom really quickly.

Behind the two lovestruck teenage turtles, the others had come back to see where their siblings had disappeared to. When they saw the two of them kissing, they let out whoops and cheers, clapping and hollering with glee.

"All right Raph!" cheered the boys.

"Way to go Freida!" cheered the girls.

As with most theraputic chains of events, seeing Raph and Frieda finally "together" kind of set off a spark in the emotional stability of the rest of the turtles. They all harbored feelings for each other, now it was only a matter of time before someone admitted it. Lizzie was actually the first to break the ice. She looked over at Mikey, who was laughing hysterically. The sight of his big brother actually kissing someone distracted him somewhat.

"Aww," he said, "Isn't that cute?"

"You know what else is cute?" asked Lizzie slyly.

"What?" Mikey turned turned towards her and was pulled into a short smeck! kiss. Mikey laughed, and then fell over in a typical sitcom faint. Lizzie giggled. Don, Cleo, Joan, and Leo roared with laughter. Mikey jumped up again. "I'm okay! I'm okay! Just wanted to add effect." He grinned at Lizzie, who batted her eyes at him. "You know, I didn't quite catch that," he said mischievously. Lizzie giggled, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Mikey put his hands on her shell, and they kissed again.

Don and Cleo were in such a state of laughter that they almost forgot that they were standing right next to each other. When they realized this, they blushed even more than they usually did when they were in close proximity to each other. There was only one question on each of their minds: Who was going to admit it first? They both started talking at the same time.

"Don, I…"

"Cleo, I…"

"I just wanted to say…"

"I've been thinking lately…"

"You're very…"

"I think you're…"

"What I mean is…"

"What I'm trying to say is…"

Leo sighed exasperatedly, then he walked up behind Don and gave him a little push. Don's and Cleo's hands locked together at the same time that their mouths came in contact with each other. A first, both of their eyes popped, but eventually they slid closed, and the two of them settled into the comfort of a long-delayed kiss.

Now only Leo and Joan were left. They looked at each other, unsure how to put it.

"Uh…"

"So…" The two of them were rarely put in situations where they were embarrassed, but this was an obvious exception. Leo tried his hand at making the first confession.

"Joan?"

"Yes?"

"I…well." He was having trouble putting his feelings into words. "I…um…" But Joan held up a hand to silence him.

"It's okay, you don't have to explain it. I sense what you want to say."

"You…huh?" Leo was confused.

"Remember what I said about using my chi to detect tension?"

"Yes."

"Well, my chi is telling me that your chakras are glowing at the moment, so your brain is a little muddled and can't sort out what to say."

"Oh." As a matter of fact, Leo could kind of feel some energy radiating from Joan's body. It was a warm, comforting energy; it was the energy that Leo had fallen in love with. It was Joan's energy.

"There's a simple fix for this," said Joan, looking at him intently.

"And that would be…?" asked Leo.

"Three simple words." He knew exactly what she meant. Leo calmed himself down. It was time to tell her. Leo gazed down into Joan's eyes. Every word was going to be an effort, but he wouldn't let that stop him.

"Joan, I'm in love with you."

Her reaction was not quite what he'd expected. Joan giggled and started to laugh. Leo's heart pounded. Was she laughing at him? "What?" he asked, as casually as he could. Joan stopped laughing.

"That…That was five words, Leonardo!" she said, giggling uncontrollably. Leo cocked an eye in confusion. "Five words! I said three!" Joan guffawed.

"Oh!" Leo finally got it. It was weird; he wasn't usually this slow on the uptake. But then again, nobody, not even Leo, is perfect.

"It's okay," said Joan, wiping away a tear. "You were close."

"Do I get a second try?"

"Um…no." Leo blinked. She was suddenly very close to him. "I've got another challenge for you." Leo gulped.

"Yeah?" he asked quietly. Joan grinned. She put a hand on his shoulder, and kissed him. Leo's eyes slid shut. He placed his hand on the back of her neck, and kissed her back.

I know what you're thinking. Love? After such a short time together? Well, some people are just meant to be together, and these turtles certainly were. If you believe in destiny and true love, than you'll agree with me. If not, well, you might as well just put this story down and walk away. But I'm sure you, my reader, are not someone who picked up this story and expected it to follow the rules of reality (especially not if you're a fan of the ninja turtles). So anyway; yes, this was destiny and true love.

The eight of them finally released each other, big grins settled on their faces.

"Cowabunga, dude," breathed Mikey.

"So, who wants to break the news to Splinter?" asked Don, still holding Cleo's hand.

"He knows, trust me," said Raph, his arm around Freida's shoulders.

"How does he know?" asked Leo. Joan's right arm was curled around his left.

"It's Splinter," said Raph simply. Leo nodded, still smiling. As they started back on their way to the lair, Mikey quickly whispered to Lizzie,

"Just because we're going steady now doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you when we're playing Mortal Combat." Lizzie giggled.

When the eight of them walked down the lair's stairway, hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm, or arm on shoulder, Splinter laughed and said,

"What took you so long?" At hearing the sound of his voice, they all laughed.

They spent time over dinner, telling Splinter about the night's battle. Leo recounted what Karai had said to him about the Shredder being alive. The girls weren't as shocked as the boys were, but they had gotten the idea that for this enemy to be alive wasn't a good thing.

"They were going to siphon all of the power off of the city grids and use it to…revive him, somehow," explained Leo.

"Well, that plan has been officially foiled," said Mikey triumphantly.

"But still," said Don, "I don't understand how he could still be alive. It's not possible."

"More like not probable, in this case," said Cleo.

"We should keep an eye out all the same," said Leo grimly.

Tired as they were, the turtles were still way too excited to got to bed right away. They sat around on the chairs and couches, talking away, as Mikey and Lizzie sat on the floor and watched a marathon of American Idol. Every once in a while one of the others would voice their opinions about how great, or how terrible, the singers on the TV where, after which Mikey or Lizzie would respond with their own opinions. One by one, the turtles fell asleep. Raph and Freida were asleep on one side of the couch, her head on his shoulder and his head on her head. Leo and Joan were sleeping on the other side of the couch, her head in his lap. Don was snoozing in the armchair to the right of the couch, with Cleo resting against his knees. Mikey and Lizzie were snoring on the floor, her head resting on his shell.

The week that followed turned out to be one of the happiest the turtles had ever known. Now that everyone had let their feelings out of the shadows, they were much more relaxed around each other. Every morning they'd wake to find someone waiting for them, arms open in welcome. The boys' days were no longer boring, now that they had someone to distract them from surface world isolation. The eight of them went on outings every night, be it for excersise, crime fighting, or just to have fun. If they weren't together as a group, they were off doing something on their own with new found companion.

Mikey and Lizzie actally found a way to sneek into a movie theater without being seen by anyone, although the first couple of tries were foiled by their restricting older siblings. The girls had almost completely forgotten about going home to Montana, This subject was something Raph and Mikey dreaded and did their best to steer the girls away from. Joan and Leo were aware of this, but they didn't say anything. Although she felt somewhat disloyal in saying it, Joan wanted very much to remain in New York, where she could be with Leo.

But of course, fate eventually caught up with them.


	15. Chapter 15: An Unwelcome Summons

Chapter 15

An Unwelcome Summons

In the shadow of the lair's entrenceway, a figure stood watching the sleeping turtles (the boys had fallen asleep down stairs for the fourth time). The light from the TV flickered in the figure's dark eyes. The figure leaped down to the bottom of the stairs. She scanned the room, then, quiet as a shadow, she snuck over to the TV area. He hard eyes softened a bit as they fell on the sleeping turtles.

I guess I can wait until morning, she decided, and slipped back into the cover of darkness.

The next morning, Freida was the first to wake. Her eye's flicked up to Raph, sleeping with his head on hers. She smiled, shifted her head, and gently kissed him on the cheek. Raph stirred, and then opened one eye.

"Morning," he said groggily, raising his head. He stretched, then reached over and tapped Leo on the arm. Leo yawned and opened his eyes. He gently shook Joan. She woke up and stretched, then nudged Lizzie on the floor. Lizzie, in turn, nudged Mikey, whose arm she had been using as a pillow. Nobody needed to wake up Don, because his internal alarm clock usually helped him wake up around this time. Don gently rubbed Cleo's shoulders (she had been leaning against his knees again). Cleo inhaled loudly, and opened her eyes.

"Man I'm hungry," said Lizzie sleepily, "What's for breakfast?"

"Cereal," came the unanimous response. Lizzie sighed.

"You guys really should think about getting in to a somewhat wider varity of food," she said in mock seriousness.

"Yeah well, sorry, babe," said Mikey, getting up and stretching. "We'll try to expand our menu." Lizzie laughed. The turtles got up from their sleeping spots and walked over towards the table just as Splinter walked into the room, quietly humming to himself.

"Good morning my sons," he said to the boys.

"Good morning Sensei," said Leo, Don, and Mikey.

" 'Sup," said Raph.

"Good morning girls," said Splinter

"Good morning Master Splinter," said Joan, Lizzie, and Cleo.

"Ohayou, Master," said Freida.

Cleo, who had been the last to leave the couch area, stopped abruptly, frozen in the space between the livng room and the kitchen. Her eyes were narrowed. Joan looked back at her.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Shhh," said Cleo holding a hand up for silence.

"Hey, quiet down," Joan said to the others. They stopped talking almost at once, staring at Cleo. She closed her eyes in concentration. The girls knew that she was listening. Out of the four of them, Cleo, by far, had the sharpest hearing. She focused her range of hearing to one corner of the lair, near the stairs. Cleo tensed. She could hear breathing.

"We're not alone," she said quietly. Quick as lightening, Cleo pulled out a throwing star and chucked it, hard, at the corner. There was a swishing sound as the star flew through the air, but when it disappeared under the stairs, there was no thud from it contacting with the target. Was it possible that Cleo had missed? But then from the shadows where the star had been thrown, somebody laughed.

"Always vigilant, aren't you, my dear Cleopatra?"

They all stared in shock at the corner. After a moment's pause, a short Japanese woman emerged from the shadows. She looked to be in her mid-fourties. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun, held together by two black chopsticks at the back of her head. She wore a blue-black, knee-length coat over a red long-sleeved, thigh-length dress, and knee-high boots. She was smiling broadly, showing off her unusually white teeth and her extremely red lipstick. The girls let out shrieks of delight.

"Master Lin!" they cried, running over to the woman and engulfing her in a group hug.

"My girls," sighed Master Lin, hugging them back. "How I have missed you."

"We missed you too, Okahsan," said Freida.

"What does 'Okahsan'mean?" asked Leo.

"It means 'Mother' in Japanese," answered Splinter.

"Ohhhhhhhh," said the boys in unison. That, they could definitely understand.

"Guys," said Joan, "This is our teacher, and adopted mother, Lin Takahashi."

"Master Lin, to us," added Lizzie.

"Sensei, this is Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Master Splinter," said Joan, gesturing at each of them in turn.

"It is a pleasure," said Lin, bowing. Splinter and the turtles bowed back.

"I must thank you for sheltering my girls for all this time."

"It was an honor and a privilege," said Splinter.

"How did you find us?" asked Freida.

"I put tracking devices inside your weapons," replied Lin.

"Oh."

Lin gazed in wonder at the boys and Splinter.

"Amazing," she breathed. "I never would have guessed that there were others like you girls."

"I know!" said Lizzie excitedly, "Isn't it great?" Mikey winked at her, and she giggled.

"Girls, could you step outside with me?" asked Lin. The girls nodded and followed their teacher up the stairs and out the door. The boys followed and listened at the door. Outside, the girls where sitting cross-legged in front of their master. "Girls," began Lin, addressing the girl turtles in a more formal tone. "You left home in a hurry without telling me were you were going. Any particular reason why you did this?"

"Well, Yoshihiro Suzuki was after Freida," said Lizzie. "So she decided to run away to New York, so that Suzuki wouldn't find her. She wanted to keep us safe, so she brought us along too."

"The boys helped us defeat Suzuki," said Freida.

"When did you defeat him?" asked Lin.

"Three weeks ago," answered Cleo.

"Then why did you not come home after his defeat?" asked Lin

"We wanted to stay with the guys for a while," replied Joan. Lin raised a thin eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Well, we became very good friends with them."

"Actually, we're more than just friends now," said Cleo, grinning.

"What do you mean?" asked Lin.

"Each of us has fallen in love with one of the four boys," said Freida. "We're just crazy about them, Sensei." The other three nodded, smiling. Lin blinked, and then sighed heavily.

"Well, that is quite problematic," she said grimly.

"Why is that, Master?" asked Joan.

"Because," said Lin, "I have come here to take the four of you home."

"What?! Why?" asked the girls, gaping in terrified surprise and confusion at their mentor. On the other side of the door, the boys exchanged horrified glances.

"Remember, you four are technically still in training," said Lin, ignoring the looks on the turtles' faces. "You left home, without notice, in the middle of a crucial part of that training. I assumed that you would come back immediately after you took care of whatever it was that had caused you to leave, but you didn't. I am so very disappointed." She turned to Joan. "Especially with you, Joan."

"Me?" asked Joan. "Why? I'm not the leader!"

"No, but you are the oldest," said Lin. "Even though you four are not yet ready for a leader, I expected you to at least be able to exersise some control over your sisters."

"But…I…"

"It's not her fault!" protested Freida. "I was the one who made them come! I was only trying to protect them." Lin shot Freida a piercing glance.

"Joan, Cleopatra, Elizabeth, would you please leave for a bit? I need to talk with your sister alone."

Joan, Cleo, and Lizzie walked back through the lair entrence. The boys wordlessly pointed to the door, and the girls hurried to join them. The seven of them pressed the sides of their heads against it. Lin and Freida had started speaking in very rapid Japanese. Lin addressed Freida as "Freida-chan", while Freida addressed Lin as "Lin-sensei". They were talking too fast for Don to even try to translate, so they were all none the wiser as to what the two of them were saying, although they were pretty darn sure that they were arguing. They heared Lin mention Lizzie, and they heard Freida mention Raph. The longer they talked, the more hostile and angry Lin became, while Freida's voice became more pleading and desperate. There was one point where her voice broke and shook. Lin said something furious and threatening. Freida gasped and whimpered. She said a few shaky sentences; it sounded like she wasn't finished with what she had to say. But then Lin said something loud and final, probably closing the discussion. Then she said something totally inaudible to the seven eavesdroppers, and they heard the sound of footsteps as Lin took her leave.

As soon as they were sure that Lin was gone, the turtles slipped out of the entrenceway to find Freida sitting on her knees, her face in her hands, sobbing. Raph kneeled beside her and gently pulled her to her feet as the others crowed around.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Raph, placing a hand on her left cheek. Freida pressed her face into his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her, gently kissing the top of her head.

"She blames me," choked Freida. "She said that I acted like a fool, deliberately putting the lives of my sisters in terrible danger. She's ashamed of me, and she wonders how anyone could fall in love with such an irresponsible and foolish turtle. I'm no better than a criminal to her."

"Shhh," hushed Raph, stroking the back of her head. The others patted Freida on the shell, assuring that she was as far from a fool as you get, and how lucky Raph was to have found her. They went back into the lair and sat down at the kitchen table, where Splinter was waiting for them.

"What does she want us to do?" asked Joan grimly. Freida sniffed.

"She wants us to leave," she answered. "There's a plane leaving for Montana tomorrow at four in the morning. If we're not there by three-fifty, she'll come and stick us severely." The three other girls winced.

"Stick you?" asked Don.

"When we misbehave," explained Joan, "or are disrespectful, Master Lin punishes us by whipping us with a flexible, stick-like reed."

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Leo.

"Lizzie gets sticked the most back home," said Cleo. Lizzie nodded. She lifted her left leg and removed the kneepad. Underneath, her knee was covered in white whip marks.

"She usually whips the knees, the shins, or the calves," said Lizzie, slipping her kneepad back on, "but if you're really bad, she'll whip your arms or neck."

"Jeez!" said Mikey. "It sounds like you guys would be a heck of a lot better off without her! She's a real jerk-off!"

Mikey instantly regretted saying this. As one, the girls surrounded him and started pelting him with angry protests and exclamations.

"How can you say that?"

"You don't even know her!"

"Who are you to judge someone you don't know?"

"You've got no right to say anything like that!"

"Whoa! Okay, okay I get it!" said Mikey, putting his hands up. The intensity with which the girls responded was so alarming that the boys actually stared at them with fear. The girls stopped shouting and cast their eyes downward, ashamed by their outburst. Lizzie took Mikey's hand and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay, babe," replied Mikey, hugging her.

"Why'd you get so angry when he said that?" asked Don. "She did act very unkindly to you girls."

"She's just strict, that's all," said Cleo stubbornly.

"We know you guys mean well," said Joan, "but you don't know Master Lin well enough to judge her so harshly."

"Why?" asked Leo. Joan sighed.

"To put it simply, she's our mother. She's been there for us ever since she first found us when we were just baby turtles. We would have died if she hadn't saved us. Deep down, Master Lin has a kind and nurturing heart. She's been there for us through every obstacle we've ever come across. When we were very small, we all caught a horrible case of pneumonia. She threw down everything else she was doing to make sure we got better. Cleo was almost killed in a rock slide when she was ten, and Master Lin spent a month doing nothing but nursing her back to health.

"In the winter, when it's cold and our systems slow down, Master Lin makes a special remedy to keep us from freezing up at night. And whenever Freida and I fight, Master Lin is there to help us deal with our problems and to come to an agreement. We're her babies and we mean more to her than anything else in the world, and she means more to us than anything else, except for you guys. So, we can't disobey her. She's earned our love and respect enough that we'd be ashamed to directly defy her."

When Joan finished her explanation, there was silence. Leo took Joan's hand and gently smiled at her.

"Thank you," he said. "I guess we understand now." The others slowly nodded.

"But you guys can't leave!" protested Mikey. "We only just decided to go steady!"

"We have to," said Joan sadly. "We can't disobey Master Lin."

"We shall not put you in harm's way by forcing you to disobey the direct orders of your master," said Splinter grimly. They all hung their heads.

"Well," said Leo, a little reluctantly, "we'll just have to make our last day together worth while."

"Yeah," agreed Joan, wrapping her arm around his, "Let's just enjoy these final hours."

"Jeez, you make it sound like we've all got cancer," said Mikey. Lizzie tried to laugh, but was unsuccessful.


	16. Chapter 16: The Hidden Shell's Farewell

Chapter 16

The Hidden Shell's Farewell

The couples spent the entire day in each other's company, savoring their time together. Mikey and Lizzie went skateboarding through the sewers. They raced each other as the pipes took them through miles and miles of tunnels underneath the city. Their ninja reflexes and balance enabled them to do stunts and tricks no human skater could do. Their escapades lasted until late afternoon, when they decided to stop for a rest. They found an old drainage junction where they played a little one-on-one ninja-style basketball (they had brought a ball with them on their journey through the underground), using a wide hole in an empty pipe for the basket. Lizzie scored seven points, and Mikey scored nine. After playing, they took out a small portable radio and listened to some music. They didn't talk about the girls' leaving at all; instead, they talked about how much they hated rap music.

"I mean, it's just talking to a constant beat," said Mikey, "It's not like there's any complicated guitar rifts or drum solos in it; just talking to the same beat over and over and over again!"

"I know!" said Lizzie. "It's so boring! I mean, Linkin Park's rap is okay, but that's because there's an actual rhythm and irregular beat to it, and they've got guitar to go along with it, and they take a break to actually sing the chorus. I don't see why people don't want to listen to that."

"I second that, babe," said Mikey, nodding vigorously. "You want to know what I think?"

"I always do," said Lizzie, winking. Mikey grinned.

"Cool. Okay, here's the deal. People these days don't listen to good music because they can't keep time!" Lizzie roared with laughter.

"Oh…ha-ha…. NICE!" she exclaimed, bumping fists with her boyfriend. "I do not care what they say, you are smart, hon."

"Right back at ya baby," said Mikey.

Don and Cleo decided to take a break from computers and spent some time playing chess. Their games lasted for hours on end, because they both knew a vast array of complex traps and formations. They also liked playing mind tricks on each other, each trying to confuse or psyche the other out. In the end, it was always either a stalemate or a really close win.

"How…do you…do that?" asked Don, gazing amazedly at an intricate trap that Cleo had driven him into on the chessboard. He was both frustrated and awed.

"Years and years of practice Donny," said Cleo, grinning. After five games, the two of them teamed up against a computer in virtual chess. They beat the computer five times out of six, much to their delight.

Leo and Joan spent the day reading. Leo read his favorite book to Joan, who had a great interest in fantasy/science-fiction. Leo was very glad to read to her, because, not only was it a good way to spend time with his girlfriend, but it brought back memories of his early childhood. When he and his brothers where little, he'd often read to Mikey and Don, and Raph, if he was feeling down. Leo stopped reading to his brothers when Mikey had turned thirteen. Now, Lin had stopped reading to the girls when Lizzie had turned eight, so Joan really missed being read to, and she appreciated Leo doing it. She fell asleep listening to the sound of his voice around six p.m. Leo smiled, and turned to reading the book himself.

Raph and Freida spent the day locked in the exercise room, working out to music. They had originally come up with the challenge of seeing who could build more muscle mass by the end of the day, but they got so caught up in the fun of working out to music that they forgot all about it. The two of them discovered that Raph had a talent for rhythm and beat, and that Freida had a very good singing voice. They made a makeshift drum set out of dumbbells and pipes, put on an alternative rock CD and pretended to jam for a full five hours. When evening rolled around, Raph and Freida went topside. They found a spot on top of an expensive glass windowed department store across the street from Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees were playing against the Indians. The two of them sat there, Raph with his arm around Freida, and watched the game.

"I think I might develop agoraphobia after all this time here," said Freida, gazing sadly at New York City. Raph snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Agoraphobia is fear of open spaces," replied Freida, "There aren't any here in the city. I'll be a wreck when we get back to Montana." Raph laughed a little halfheartedly.

"All the more reason for you not to leave."

"Yeah, well, that's not really an option, as much as I'd like it to be." Freida sighed, pressing herself closer to his side. He squeezed her briefly.

"I don't know what I'm going to without you," he said quietly.

"You did pretty well for seventeen years without even knowing I existed," she replied. Raph smiled.

"Yeah, how did I ever survive?"

"I wouldn't know, but I do know that my life before you came along wasn't nearly as worth living for as it is now."

"Thanks, Fre."

Somewhere down in the stadium, a player hit a home run. The ball flew out of the stadium and up towards the two turtles. Raph caught it just before it hit his face.

"Good catch!" exclaimed Freida. Raph laughed. He took a look at the ball, and then handed it to Freida.

"Here, take it."

"Oh no, you caught it," said Freida, shaking her head.

"You're supposed to get a souvenir when you're on vacation," said Raph. Freida looked from him to the ball, then took it, smiling.

"Thanks, hon."

"Sure, babe."

Freida hesitated. She wanted to give something to him, something to remember her by. Then she got an inspiration.

"What?" asked Raph, seeing the sudden look of miraculous discovery flood Freida's face.

"Hold on," said Freida, sitting up strait. She took off her right wristband. Underneath it, tied around her green wrist, was a thin leather bracelet, small enough to be completely concealed by the thicker leather wristband. Fastened onto this little bracelet was a small metal charm, roughly the size of a human fingernail. The charm was molded into a single Japanese character.

"What's that mean?" asked Raph, pointing to the little metal character.

"It means fire," answered Freida quietly. "Fire was the element I was born under, and I've got a feeling it's the one you were born under too."

"Cool."

"I made this when I was little." Freida untied the bracelet and slipped it off of her wrist, then put her wristband back on. The little metal character gleamed slightly. Freida looked up at Raph. "I want you to have it," she said, holding it out to him. Raph was surprised. This was something Freida valued a lot. He shook his head.

"Aw, no. No, I can't take that. It's yours, Fre." He tried to push her hand away, but Freida persisted.

"I can't just let you give me something and not give you something back."

"But that's…no, babe, I can't."

"Raph, either take it or I'm throwing it away." Her voice softened. "Raph, I want you to have something to remember me by. Please, take it. It would really mean a lot to me." Raph hesitated.

"You've given me so much already. I couldn't take anything more from you."

"Please."

Raph could see how much it did mean to her that he accept this gift, so he had to consent. He held out his hand, and Freida gently placed it in his palm. She smiled.

"Tie it around one of your sais," she suggested. "It might bring you luck." Raph studied the little bracelet. Hot tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he swallowed them. He turned back to Freida, smiling, and kissed her gently.

"Love you, Freida."

"Love you too, Raph."

Nobody slept that night. They were all too down to even think about sleeping. Splinter didn't even go to bed, as he wanted to be a support to the sad teenagers. They spent the night talking about the many adventures that they had had in the past and with each other. The boys talked about all of the different foes and creatures they had battled, about their defeat of the Shredder, and of their huge battle with the Stone Generals, how the whole experience had saved their family from falling apart, and how it had helped Raph and Leo finally settle their differences and bring them closer as both brothers and friends. The girls talked about the many drug busts they had made in the backcountries of Montana, about how they shut down an entire animal testing facility, and about their origin. The girls told them how Lin had found them in a pond near a factory that had been dumping radioactive waste. Lin had thought that the little turtles would have died if she did not remove them from the pond. Her heart had been thawed out by these helpless little creatures, so she took them in and raised them, adapting to their needs as they mutated. When the girls had fully changed and had learned to speak, Lin (who was actually an expert in ninjitsu) trained them in the ninja arts, thinking that they would eventually need to defend themselves.

"Master Lin was trained in a secret women's military prison in northeastern Japan," explained Joan. "That's why she's so strict."

"I'd still say she's a little more than strict," said Mikey, grimacing. They all sighed.

"It's probably going to be really hot back home," said Cleo offhandedly, trying to make light the situation. "We'll be able to hike out to the lake." But none of her sisters wanted to think about going home. Don, on a sudden inspiration, went to his room and brought back a camera, suggesting that they should all take a few pictures for remembrance. So everyone, including Splinter, gathered together and posed for the camera (Don set it up so that he could be in the picture before the flash went off). They took two group photos and eight pair photos, one for each of them.

The turtles left for the airport around one-thirty in the morning. They had made arrangements the previous morning for Casey to pick them up in his cargo delivery truck and drive them to the airport. So after the girls said their final goodbyes to Splinter, the eight of them went topside, emerging in front of an empty five story motel. Casey was waiting for them, his gray and yellow delivery truck parked across the street. His welcoming smile faded when he saw the looks on the turtles' faces. He bracingly patted each of them on the shoulder before lifting up the back door of his truck so that they could hop in. They sat in silence on the way to the airport, casting sad glances at each other, and holding hands the whole time. The radio was pumped up to the volume of live show, but nobody really listened. Casey saw their sullen faces in the rearview mirror of his truck cabin. It looked like the eight of them where being driven off to be executed. He turned off the radio. After a few minutes, Freida started to hum to herself, quietly at first, then loudly enough for all of them to hear it. Her humming slowly turned into singing. She sang a light Japanese folksong she had learned when she was little. Her voice was fixed at a lovely soprano. Her sisters recognized it and started to give her some background: Cleo whistled a melody that wound around Freida's notes, Lizzie drummed a beat on the floor (a slow, taiko drum beat that echoed through the hold), and Joan sang a piano back up chorus, repeating the words slowly and deliberately. The boys listened to this song, transfixed by the girls' perfect harmony and rhythm. They were so entranced by the girls' singing, that they jumped a bit when the truck came to a sudden halt, and Casey lifted the door and said,

"We're here."

Casey had parked at the very edge of the parking lot, so the turtles were able to slip behind the actual airport building and onto the airfield. It was still relatively early, so there wasn't much movement on the field, where the airplanes seemed to slumber, and small carts stood bunched together in packs. They found Lin waiting for them in front of an Alaska Airlines plane, docked at the last platform in the building. The door to the cargo hold was open.

"Right on time," said Lin. The girls bowed. "Say your goodbyes," said Lin briskly, "then get in the cargo hold. You'll find that I put some grappling hooks inside, so you can get off when the plane starts to land." The girls nodded sadly. "All right." Lin glanced around. "I'll see you girls when we get to Montana." She inclined her head to the boys, and then walked away towards the airport.

"Charming lady," said Raph sarcastically.

The farewell was almost too much for the turtles to bear. The pairs separated so that they could say their good-byes in private.

Mikey and Lizzie hugged for a long time before letting go to look into each other's eyes.

"It's not going to be nearly as much fun around here without you, Liz," said Mikey sadly.

"You think you'll have it bad. Country life is going to get a whole new layer of boredom," replied Lizzie. The corners of Mikey's mouth twitched.

"Just, make sure you practice grinding on the board."

"Every day." They kissed and hugged again.

Don and Cleo stood with their heads pressed together, their hands clasped and hanging loosely at their sides.

"Keep working on that override chip," said Don quietly. "You could really benefit mankind with something like that."

"Well, you could benefit your chess scores if you keep working on forming the Karcovsky Entrapment," said Cleo, taking a jab at lightening things up. Don smiled in spite of himself.

"I'll keep that in mind." The kissed, then drew apart.

"I love you," said Cleo.

"I love you too," said Don.

Leo wiped a tear form Joan's eye.

"Don't worry," he said quietly. "We'll see you girls again."

"Yeah, maybe," said Joan, looking down at her feet. "Then again, we might not be able to leave the property after what we pulled."

"I'm sure she'll relent eventually."

"Yeah. Take care of yourself, and your brothers."

"I will." Leo kissed her gently on the cheek, and she threw her arms around him, crying softly.

Raph and Freida had their arms locked around each other.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you," said Freida, tears spilling down her face and onto Raph's shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," said Raph. "Anyway, you girls are coming back as soon as you're done with training, right?"

"I don't know," said Freida. "She might not let us."

"Well, if not, we'll just have to come and get you ourselves," said Raph fiercely. Freida smiled.

"That's my boyfriend," she said quietly. Raph sighed and hugged her closer, as though afraid that if he loosened his grip she would slip away into nothingness.

"I wish I could've given you as much as you've given me," he whispered.

Freida snorted and drew away.

"You dunce, you've already given me more than your fair share." She placed a hand over his heart and smiled. "You gave me this, and that's more than enough." Raph couldn't hold back his tears anymore. He leaned down a bit and kissed her, then drew her back into his arms, the tears slipping out of his eyes.

When everyone had said their private good-byes, the turtles came back together and exchanged hugs between friends. The girls gave the boys their home phone number (Freida gave Raph her cell phone number) and the boys gave the girls their home phone number. Then the eight of them drew together and group hugged in silence, reveling in their newfound unity. Finally, after one last sad good-bye, the girls turned and ran up to the awaiting plane. They climbed into the cargo hold, waved and disappeared. The boys watched as the plane backed down the runway and prepared to take off. With a great revving sound, the plane raced down the runway and lifted off the ground. The boys waved and watched the plane carry their hearts off into darkness of the early morning. With tears in their eyes and their arms around each other, the turtles walked off the airfield. Casey pulled the truck up to the field entrance and the turtles climbed into the back.

The ride home was quiet and subdued. Don, his eyes closed, put a comforting arm around Mikey's shoulders as his younger brother sobbed quietly into his hands. Silent tears poured down Raph's face, try as he might to hold them back. Leo patted him gently on the arm as he stared at the floor, his own sadness having gone one shot beyond tears. Casey dropped them off by a manhole on Broadway. They thanked him and climbed dejectedly into the hole.

When the turtles got back to the lair, Splinter stood waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. He embraced them individually, murmuring words of support and his condolences to them. Then he stood back, smiling.

"There is a message for you, my sons," he said. "On the computer."

Giving each other puzzled looks, the boys walked over to the computer area. Don clicked on the main computer and clicked on the icon that read, "Mail". A little screen popped up containing an image of the girls chatting to each other in front of the stretch of wall that concealed the door to the lair. It was a video message. On the screen, Joan nudged her talking sisters so that they could begin the message.

"Hey guys!" they said in unison.

"We just wanted to say that we're sorry for having to leave you all, just after we'd all admitted our feelings for each other," said Joan.

"But we're not going to let this separation bring us down for long!" proclaimed Lizzie.

"Long distance relationships may be tough," said Cleo.

"But ours are well worth the wait," finished Freida.

The girls all nodded there heads in unison.

"We promise, that when our training period is over, we're coming back," said Joan.

"So be warned," said Lizzie mischievously. "Until then," she began, then the rest of them joined in.

"Love you all, and we'll video e-mail you again soon! Call us! Bye!" They blew kisses and waved, and then the message clicked off.

The boys looked at each other in happy surprise.

"I love those girls!" laughed Mikey.

"Me too," said Don, Leo, and Raph in unison.

"They're a little nuts," said Don.

"But oh so cool!" said Mikey. Leo and Raph laughed. As a group, contemplating on how lucky they were to have met such wonderful girl turtles, the boys walked up the stairs and to their rooms for some well-earned rest.


	17. Chapter 17: Two Brothers

Chapter 17

Two Brothers

Even after their surprise video, getting used to not having the girls around was not an easy task. The boys took time off from going out at night, and instead they stayed in their rooms where they could be alone to mope as they pleased. Eventually, Leo, Mikey, and Don brought themselves out from their mourning and returned to their daily lives, sending e-mails to the girls every day. But Raph did not share their acceptance of the absence of their girlfriends. He kept to himself, often staying in his room all day and coming out at night to send e-mails to Freida. Leo, Mikey, Don, and Splinter began to worry about him. They grew concerned that this self-indulged isolation was bad for his health and well being.

Three days after the girls left found Raph alone on the rooftop in Chinatown; the same rooftop that Freida had found him on that one night almost a month ago, though it felt longer. He sat on the edge of the roof, turning the bracelet Freida had given him over in his fingers. He touched the Japanese character for fire with his thumb, and sighed. Raph felt himself slipping back into his days as a loner. The grief he'd felt when Freida left had carved yet another hole in his heart, a hole that was taking forever to heal. Raph was beginning to think that his days as a less angry team player were coming to an end, that his anger was going to take hold of him again, and that the bond between him and his brothers was going to weaken. But he didn't know what to do about it; his reclusive nature prevented him from confiding in anybody, despite the fact that he knew he desperately needed to. Raph was confused, and he needed to talk to somebody.

Fate seemed to like this idea, for at that moment, Raph heard some footsteps approaching him from behind. He looked around to see Leo walking towards him, a nervous smile settled on his pointed face.

"Hey!" greeted Leo.

"Hey," said Raph.

"Mind if I sit down?"

"Uh-uh." Leo sat down on Raph's right, his hands folded in his lap.

"So…"

"What're you doing here?" asked Raph. Leo looked around at him.

"Oh! Uh…I followed you."

"Ah." Raph nodded and looked down at the ground. Leo gazed concernedly at his brother's grim and troubled face.

"Are you okay, Raph?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure? You don't look or sound okay these days."

"I said I'm fine, Leo!" Raph snapped, glaring piercingly at him. His glare slipped when he saw Leo's concerned and sad face. Raph sighed and looked away.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Leo scooted a little closer to him and put a comforting hand on Raph's arm.

"Raph, talk to me."

"Huh?"

"Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong, please."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Liar."

"I am not."

"Raph, ever since the girls left, you've been moody and reclusive, angry and distant."

"Just like old times, eh?"

"Raph, c'mon. I'm here for you, I promise."

Raph took a deep, shuddering breath, and exhaled loudly, closing his eyes as though he were extremely weary.

"I don't know what to do, Leo."

"About what?"

"About going on, about living… without…without…her."

"Ah. Come on, Raph."

"I know it sounds stupid, believe me, I do! But…I guess, when you find someone special…I mean, when you fall in love with someone, you feel like you can't live without them; like seeing them every day really makes your life all the better…and then you lose them…It's just…I just…

"I don't know what's wrong with me, but ever since Freida left my life has been spiraling. I feel like part of me has died."

"I know exactly what you mean, Raph. I felt the same way about Joan leaving, but…it's not something that should keep you from living your life. I mean, it's not like we aren't going to see them again. They'll come back, when their training period's over."

Raph laughed without humor.

"Yeah, that's what I kept telling myself when you left." Leo cocked his head to one side.

"What do you mean?"

"When you left to train away from home, remember that?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember."

"I kept on telling myself that you'd come back as soon as you were done with your training period, but…you didn't. You didn't come back."

"Raph, that was different…the girls wouldn't do that."

"Oh yeah? Why not? How is it any different?" Raph's tone became bitter and frustrated. Leo took his hand off of Raph's arm and sighed.

"Raph, I…I know that you had a hard time when I was gone, but…it's not like the girls will forget about us…"

"Is that what it was? You forgot about us?" Raph turned to face Leo, his eyes narrowed with contempt. His voice was low and dangerous.

"You don't have any idea, do you? You have no idea of how hard it was for us, for me, to live without you there!"

"I know, I know."

"No, you don't. You think that I just decided to ditch the idea of having a leader and get along on my own."

"But that's what you said…"

"I wasn't saying what was really on my mind! I never do, you know that! That night, while I was shouting about how I was going to call my own shots and how we got along fine without you, I was really thinking of how much it hurt to know that I didn't have anyone I could count on anymore, that I was completely on my own. I heard you talking to Splinter that night you came home. He said that you needed to talk to me, that you being gone had been hard for me! And did you talk to me? Did you even think about making up for it? Nope! Not a chance! You just decided to settle back into giving orders and controlling every aspect of everyday life! Well, I'm sure even you can recall what happened next."

Leo did recall. He remembered that the tension between him and Raph became so heavy that they quarreled more often than not. It was this tension that had resulted in the battle between the two of them. Leo closed his eyes. He could still remember that night perfectly clear. He could hear the rain pattering against the hotel rooftop, its brilliant neon sign casting a bloody red glow on the short iron smoke vents and the edging cement blocks that dotted the dark concrete roof. He could see Raph standing over him, clad in his Nightwatcher outfit, glaring down at him with seventeen years worth of rage and jealousy burning in his eyes, his sai dagger inches from Leo's face. Leo opened his eyes to see Raph looking once more down at the ground, breathing hard. He didn't usually talk to Leo about how he felt with such intense sincerity; it must have cost him a lot of energy. He got up and walked a little ways away, his arms crossed, his back to his older brother. Leo turned to face him, wishing that Raph could see the sorry look he now focused him with.

"Raph…" he began quietly, half expecting Raph to walk away without listening. When he didn't, Leo said, in a hushed tone,

"I didn't know."

"'Course you didn't," said Raph bitterly. "You never notice anything."

"You could have told me," said Leo, getting up and walking over to where Raph stood. He stepped beside him, leaning over to try to see the expression on the broad green face.

"You wouldn't have listened."

"Yes I would. I'm certainly listening now."

"Yeah, now. Now that it's too late. I already did something I now regret."

"You mean fighting me?"

"Duh."

"But that's in the past, Raph," said Leo. He almost smiled, but he could tell that that would be the wrong thing to do at this point. "You need to let that go."

"I can't," said Raph tightly. "You know I have a problem with holding a grudge. I have one against myself. I'll never forgive myself for what I did that night. Never." Raph closed his eyes tightly and turned his face away, as if he was recoiling from being struck.

Leo saw Raph's shoulders tremble as he tried to fight back the tears that once again threatened to open the floodgates to his eyes. Leo sighed again.

"You know," he said quietly, "for a long time, I thought all you did was hate me. I thought that you viewed me as the bane of your existence, despite the fact that we had our close moments." Raph gulped and shook his head.

"No…No, I don't hate you. I never really hated you, I was just…just jealous." Leo started a bit. Somehow he could tell that Raph had been keeping this little fact a secret from him for a long time. "I guess…the only way I could really express that envy was with anger, but I had no right too. You're my brother, you always will be. I can't believe I disregarded that bond for so many years…I just…I don't know."

"Raph…"

"Maybe I'm the one who should leave. I bet you guys would be a heck of a lot better off without me."

"No!" Leo actually grabbed Raph by the arm, as though he was afraid that he would disappear at any moment. "Don't say that. That's ridiculous! If you couldn't live without me, what makes you think that I could live without you?" Raph didn't say anything. Behind his eyes, he felt a little twinge of feeling at the sound of the words Leo had spoken.

"I know that you're still mad at yourself for attacking me, and that you're upset that Freida had to leave, but…but that doesn't make it okay for you to run off. It was hard for me to live without you, and Don and Mikey, and I'm ashamed that I forgot about you guys so easily, but I'm not holding a grudge against myself for it, and you shouldn't hold a grudge against yourself either."

"Why?"

"Because I've already forgiven you, so there really isn't any point, is there?"

Raph heard the words, but he didn't quite believe it. At first he thought that he hadn't heard correctly, so he turned around to see whether or not Leo was serious. When he was met with a look full of apologetic sorrow and brotherly love, Raph's reclusive and angry wall shattered completely.

"You…you have?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"Of course," said Leo, taking his hand off of Raph's arm. "Please, let me make up for lost time. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything, for all the pain that I have caused you. I can only hope that you can forgive me, if not now than someday soon. Really, I'm sorry." Raph gulped and looked at his brother, his face clouded. Leo nodded. "I'm sorry."

Raph said nothing. A moment passed, and then the two of them stepped forward and hugged. It was not an ordinary hug, but a sincere, full on brother hug.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that," whispered Raph. "I'd thought you'd never forgive me. You have no idea how much this means to me." Leo smiled, and hugged Raph even tighter.

"I think I've got a pretty good idea," he said.

They hugged for a long time, patting each other on the back. This was actually the first time the two of them had really hugged in a long while, and they wanted to make it last. Finally, they released each other, one arm still around each other's shoulders.

"Don't worry, the girls will come back, you'll see," said Leo.

"Yeah, your right," said Raph. He took his arm off of Leo's shoulders and tied the leather bracelet around the hilt of his right sai dagger.

"So, will you please stop this Post-Dramatic-Stress-Syndrome act and start behaving like my brother again?" asked Leo, smiling. Raph barked a laugh.

"Sure, I guess it's worth a try," he said, grinning. The two of them stood up, one-arm hugged, and set off for home.

At that moment, any tension between the two brothers was lifted, not to return for quite some time

The End


End file.
